What's wrong with me?
by rachbob
Summary: What happens when Casey looks in the mirror one morning and doesn't like what he sees. What downwards spiral does this send him on and will his brothers help before time runs out. - on hiatus until June
1. Chapter 1

**What's wrong with me?**

 **What happens when Casey looks in the mirror one morning and doesn't like what he sees. What downwards spiral does this send him on and will his brother's help before time runs out.**

 **TRIGGER: this story will include eating disorders and some self harm so if you feel may be affected please don't feel like you have to read it. I will put in triggers in the chapters that will contain these :)**

Chapter 1:

Casey woke up, just like he did any normal day. He got out of bed, like he did any normal day. He would walk past the mirror, like he did any normal day. He'd go and have breakfast, just like he'd do any normal day. Except today was different.

He got out of bed, just like he normally would but then when Casey walked past the mirror he stopped and looked at himself; he looked at himself carefully. Did he look normal? His face, his neck, his arms and his lips. Were they normal? Casey just stood there looking at himself, picking out little things that stood out so much. It was his face and neck that got Casey the most; they just didn't look right.

Casey didn't realise how long he'd been standing there until Brax called him down and Casey realised he'd been standing at the mirror for 30 minutes. "Just coming!" Casey called back, not quite believing he'd just spent 30 minutes in front of the mirror. What was going on with him?

He got himself dressed and then walked out into the kitchen; he knew Brax would ask questions. "What took you so long?" Brax asked as expected. "Oh I just slept in", Casey lied hoping that Brax would believe him. "Right, you had a late night or something?" Brax asked knowing that Casey wasn't really for lie ins as much as he loved his bed.

Casey silently cursed Brax. Why did he have to ask so many questions? Casey got his breakfast and sat down at the table. "Yeah something like that", Casey replied and Brax nodded. "Well I'm going down to the beach, I'll be back later" Brax said before grabbing his keys and leaving Casey in the house.

Casey looked down at his breakfast, he wasn't hungry and he didn't really feel like eating. He stood up pouring the cereal into the bin and putting his bowl in the sink. He walked off back to his room, he was going to sort some stuff out, stop himself from feeling like he did. However for Casey that would be easier said than done.

2 hours later and Brax was back. Casey had spent most of that time in his room, looking in the mirror and for some reason exercising. Casey would never normally exercise in his room, he'd normally go down to the gym but for some reason today, he just felt the compulsion to exercise.

"Casey I'm back!" Brax called as he walked into the house putting his keys down behind him. He walked into the kitchen and couldn't find Casey, he presumed he was in his room. Brax had noticed Casey had been a little odd that morning, but he didn't know why. As Brax walked past the bin he noticed that Casey's breakfast was in it and he started to wonder why. "Casey", Brax said as he knocked on Casey's bedroom door. He tried to open it, but Casey had locked it.

Inside his room Casey could hear Brax outside, what was Casey supposed to do? He was hot, sweaty and was breathing heavy. He couldn't let Brax in. "Yeah?" Casey shouted slightly breathless. "Are you alright in there?" Brax asked. "Yeah!" Casey replied. "Casey let me in", Brax instructed and Casey panicked.

He could not let Brax in. He just couldn't, he would ask why he was hot and sweaty; also Casey was sure that Brax had found the food in the bin. "Case, I just want to ask you something", Brax said trying to get Casey to open the door. "Casey open this door, what are you hiding?"

"Nothing", Casey replied knowing he was running out of time. He quickly changed his top, cooled himself down, slowed down his breathing and went to open the door. "Finally", Brax said as Casey opened the door. "What did you want?" Casey asked. Brax rubbed his hand across his head. "I found your breakfast in the bin." Casey's breath hitched. How was he supposed to explain this?

 **Thank you for reading, please review and tell me what you think :) I know this is short but the chapters will get longer as the story goes on :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow thank you so much to FrankElza, Heather, Guest, Guest, Fanfiction.79 and SammyFranks for reviewing, I honestly can't tell you how much it means :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorders so if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read :)**

Chapter 2:

"Casey" Brax said snapping him out of thought. "Erm, I just wasn't hungry", Casey replied hoping Brax wouldn't see through his lie. "Well why make it then?" Brax asked, not convinced that his brother would just throw away food. "I don't know, I guess I was still tired" Casey said, wishing Brax would just leave him alone. "All right then, are you alright?" Brax asked. "Yeah course" Casey said smiling before shutting his door.

"You two alright?" Brax asked as Kyle and Phoebe came through the door as he walked into the living room. "Yeah, we're fine" Kyle replied, confused at why his brother was asking if they were alright. "You alright?" Kyle asked as he and Phoebe sat down on the sofa. "Yeah yeah I'm fine, look have you noticed anything up with Casey recently?" Brax asked sitting down at the table.

Kyle frowned and looked to Phoebe who shrugged her shoulders. "No, why?" Kyle asked. If there was something wrong with his brother, Kyle wanted to know so he could help. "He seems to acting a little odd" Brax said and Kyle nodded but before he or Phoebe had a chance to reply, Casey walked in.

Casey walked into the living room and immediately had everyone staring at him. _They're looking at you_ the small but penetrating voice said inside his head. _They're talking about you, judging you. They know you're not normal_ the voice teased, making Casey feel more and more self conscious. He didn't need a stupid voice telling him everything he already knew.

They were still looking at him, staring at him, thinking about him. Casey couldn't handle it. He vaguely heard Brax say his name and Kyle asked if he was alright but he couldn't answer he couldn't, he was still sucked in by his thoughts. His breathing started to get quick and he realised he had to get out of the situation he was in. Without thinking Casey bolted out the door, not looking back when Brax screamed out his name.

"What's up with him?" Kyle asked and Brax just sighed. "I don't know" Brax replied, running his hand through his hair. "Aren't you going to go after him?" Kyle asked and Brax shook his head. "No, just let him cool off" Brax said standing up. "I'm off to the restaurant, if he comes back make sure he's alright." Kyle nodded and assured Brax that he would.

Casey sprinted down to the beach and collapsed on the sand breathing heavy. That was the first time he'd experienced the voices and probably wasn't the last. He put his head back on the sand and looked up at the sky. "Alright little bro?" Heath asked as he sat down next to Casey. "What do you want Heath?" Casey asked not in the mood for any of his older brother's games.

"Ooh what's got you in a mood?" Heath asked jokingly. Casey just sighed, there was no way he was going to tell Heath what was going on. "Anyways I was going to ask if you wanted to surf" Heath said and Casey nodded. "Yeah go one then" Casey said standing up and walking to the sea with Heath.

When they got to the sea, Casey took his t-shirt off and was horrified. He looked from Heath to himself and felt sick. Heath looked so much better than him. There was nothing wrong with him, but then there was everything wrong with Casey. _He's looking at you, wondering why he's got you as a little brother_ the voice in his head said, making Casey just want to run away.

"Case", Heath said bringing Casey back from his thoughts. "Are we going in or what?" Casey nodded and followed Heath into the water.

15 minutes later Casey and Heath emerged from the water. "Case, honestly mate, what was that?" Heath asked laughing. Casey hadn't been able to surf properly, with other things consuming his mind. Casey didn't reply and searched frantically for his t-shirt. "Heath just leave me alone!" Casey shouted still looking for his t-shirt, knowing everyone was looking at him.

Casey finally found his shirt and put it on, before scrambling up the beach and running off home. Heath just stood there in utter shock, unsure of what had just happened. Casey was normally a great surfer but today he was pretty bad. Then when they got out the water, Casey just started to freak out. Heath just put it down to Casey going through a phase, however little did Heath know Casey wasn't just going through a phase.

Casey sprinted and sprinted and never stopped. He just wanted to get back to the safety of his room, the place where no one could see him or judge him apart from his own reflection, which was probably the worst. Casey ran up to the house and burst through the front door, startling Kyle and Phoebe. "You alright Case?" Kyle asked as he stood up to go round to his brother. "Yeah I'm fine" Casey replied and before Kyle had a chance to stop him he ran into his room.

"What's up with him?" Phoebe asked and Kyle sighed. "I don't know" he said. Kyle could see what Brax meant, Casey just wasn't himself. Kyle sat back down next to Phoebe pushing the thought of Casey to the back of his mind, until Brax got back.

Casey was pacing up and down in his room, trying to calm his breathing and not looking in the mirror. He thought back to the beach, how much better Heath looked, he needed to looked like Heath. He had the image in his head, the image that he should be and he wasn't going to stop until he got there. The problem was would Casey be able to stop.

"Alright Kyle?" Brax asked as he got back from his shift at the restaurant. Kyle nodded, not taking his eyes off the screen. Phoebe had gone out so it was just Kyle in house. Brax walked into the kitchen to start some tea and Kyle went to go and speak to him. "You how you mentioned that thing about Casey earlier" Kyle said and Brax nodded. "I think you're right" Kyle said and Brax stopped what he was doing. "Why what's happened?" He asked, concern in his voice.

"Before when you were at the restaurant, Casey came back and he burst through the door. He looked out of breath and flustered about something. I asked if he was alright and he said he was fine, before I had a chance to do anything, he ran into his room" Kyle explained and Brax sighed. Something was troubling his baby brother and he was going to make sure he found out what.

 **Thank you so much for reading, please review and tell me your thoughts :)**

 **I hope all my readers have a good new year and I'll see you next chapter :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow! I'm overwhelmed at the response this story had had. Thank you to brittanynay, Guest, Eligh-tate, Guest, Heather, LINA, FrankElza, SammyFranks, Heather and Suzza for reviewing. It means so much and I'm glad you're all enjoying the story**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorder if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read it :)**

Chapter 3:

The next day, Casey's frame of mind hadn't changed. He was going to go down to the gym more, he had to. He'd woke up, got in some running clothes and found his trainers. He didn't care what anyone would say, after all he's only going for some exercise.

"Casey up?" Brax asked Kyle as he walked into the kitchen. "Don't think so" Kyle replied, standing up from where he was sitting. "I've got to get off, shift at the restaurant" he said and Brax nodded as he walked out. Brax started to make himself breakfast, knowing that Casey wouldn't want any. He was starting to worry about his brother, he never seen him. He was always out, or in his room isolating himself from the world.

Casey got his trainers on and stood up ready to go out. He was planning to have no breakfast, some lunch and some tea; along with lots of exercise that would do him fine. He looked in the mirror as he walked past and stopped. His face, it didn't feel right or look right and that's what the run would hopefully change. Well in Casey's eyes anyways.

Casey walked out of his room and into the living room where he was met by Brax; he was desperately trying to annoy the voices in his head. "You alright?" Brax asked as he sat down at the table. "Yeah I'm fine" Casey replied heading for the door. "Where you off too?" Brax asked, suspicious about what his brother was doing. "I'm just heading out" Casey said and walked out the door before Brax could say anything.

As soon as Casey was out the door he began running. He ran and ran, enjoying the feeling that was running through him. The feeling that he was doing something right, he was normal, he wasn't pathetic. But those feelings wouldn't last long. He ran down onto the beach and carried on. He knew Heath was at the gym and Kyle was at the restaurant, so he wasn't going to see anyone.

He carried on running along the beach, staring to tire himself out as he kept on running. He hadn't eaten for ages and in fact he'd lost count of how many hours it was. He carried on running, sweating in the blazing sun, his legs were starting to weaken; he just kept telling himself that all of this pain would be worth it. Hopefully.

Casey reached the end of the beach and collapsed down onto the sand, he was exhausted. His body was weak but as he sat up he could feel the skin on his stomach roll. He looked down at his legs, his red sweaty legs, they looked different and he didn't like it. After grilling himself on these things, Casey heaved himself up and started running again, the thoughts in his head making him more determined.

Kyle watched out the Windows of Angelo's, just observing the world outside. He was looking out at the sea when a small figure on the beach caught his eye. He looked closer and realised it was Casey running along the beach, Kyle watched his younger brother as it looked like he was struggling. He didn't want to interfere with Casey but he decided that he would keep an eye on him and mention it to Brax later.

Casey ran and ran, pushing himself to the max. He didn't care that his legs were tired, his stomach was grumbling, that his face was red and sweaty or that his arms were flying in all directions. He just wanted to look 'right'. The image in his head was always there; the image of what he should look like. He knew how he had to get there, it would take time and patience.

Casey reached the end of the beach and was shattered, but he knew he couldn't stop. It was only 10:30 am so he had plenty of time, the gym would be his next stop. As he jogged (okay, maybe stumbled) towards the gym he was praying that Heath wasn't in there. Anyways he did own it, so he could just ban people like Heath who he knew were going to bother him.

He walked in to find a few people in there, thankfully not Heath. He walked over to the reception desk and checked the computer. Heath had left half an hour ago which meant Casey was in the clear. He went over to weights and lay down, gripping his arms on the metal. He started to lift them up, his whole body aching and teasing as he did. He thought about stopping but then carried on, knowing he couldn't fail.

After an hour of intense workouts, that included lifting, running and using arm and leg muscles, Casey stopped at 11:30 knowing he had to get back home. He staggered over to the exit, ignoring the looks other people were giving him and quickly walked out. He tried to run back home, but his weak body was holding him back.

He eventually made it home and walked into the house, thankful that none of his brothers were there, although that doesn't mean he wouldn't bump into one of their ladies. "Hi Casey, oh you alright?" Ricky asked a breathless Casey as she walked into the living room. "Yeah, I'm fine" Casey said slightly breathless. "I'm just gonna go have a shower" Casey said walking off. "Do you want some lunch?" Ricky asked but Casey didn't reply.

 **Thank you much for reading, I'm sorry for the wait been very busy this week. I hope you enjoyed and please review, I would love to know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you so much to , FrankElza, Heather and brittanymay for reviewing, I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story and hope you enjoy what's to come :)**

 **TRIGGER: this contains eating disorders, if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 4:

"Alright?" Brax asked as he walked into the house, putting his keys down on the side. "Yeah, Casey's just jumped in the shower so he'll be done soon" Ricky said and Brax nodded. "How was he when he came in? He asked. Brax had noticed something up with Casey, but he didn't know what, so now he was on the look out for anything.

"He seemed a bit out of breath, but apart from that nothing" Ricky said. Brax nodded and walked through to the kitchen. "Ooh what you making?" Brax asked he put his arms around Ricky. "Fried egg and chips, I know Casey likes it" Ricky said and Brax raised his eyebrow. "That's if Casey's even gonna eat it." Ricky frowned, "what you going on about?"

"Oh I'm sure it's nothing. I'm gonna go see how Casey's doing" Brax said, changing the subject as he walked out. "Okay then" Ricky replied, not questioning anything Brax had just said and carried on with the cooking.

As soon as Casey got into the bathroom, he let out his emotions. Tears fell down his face but he didn't know why he was crying, he'd just done like 2 hours of exercise. Pulling himself together, Casey took off his top but stopped dead in his tracks when he looked into the mirror. _You're pathetic_ the small voice tormented him. He ran his hand across his chest, picking at the skin. Constantly going over the list of everything that was wrong with it. He didn't realise but in the few minutes that he'd been thinking, the skin he had been picking had gone red. He stopped and quickly got himself undressed and hopping in the shower, avoiding the mirror.

He let the water get hotter and hotter as it rolled down his skin, he didn't care that it burned, he liked it. After a few minutes of just letting the water run, Casey suddenly changed the temperature to cold, which then lead to freezing. He stood there letting the ice cold water run down his body, weirdly enjoying the numbness it gave him. He wasn't even thinking about anything, then he heard Brax knock at the door. Casey snapped to attention.

"Case, how much longer you gonna be in there?" Brax asked. "Erm, not long" Casey said, trying not to let his voice quiver. "Good, cos Ricky's made fried egg and chips" Brax said before walking away.

 _No, no, not egg and chips. No!_ Casey stressed as he still stood in the shower, but he didn't care about the water. No. Ricky was making egg and chips, he was only going to get a banana. _It's going to ruin you, all your hard work will be for nothing_ the voice teased and Casey felt his hand punch the wall, although he instantly regretted it when his knuckles started to sting.

He head against the wall, the freezing water from the shower still running down on him. He tried to calm himself down, knowing that if he was to give to game away now, that would be it and his hard work would be ruined. Pulling himself together, Casey turned off the water and got out the shower, grabbing his towel.

He quickly dried himself off, not daring to turn round and look in the mirror. He cringed every time he had to look down, scrunched his eyes like you do when you look at the sun. He put on his clothes and looked down at his trembling hands, before realising that his clothes stunk and were sweaty. He ran a hand through his wet hair and sighed.

He carefully unlocked the bathroom door and stuck his head out, looking for anyone in the hall. To Casey's relief no one was there. He walked out of the bathrrom, he could hear Brax and Ricky in the kitchen but he just ignored them and walked into his room. Once in his room, Casey locked the door and walked over to the wardrobe. He considered taking out a pair of shorts but then remembered that anything he was going to eat that day would show on his legs, and to Casey's misfortune the voice in his head just decided to clarify that.

He pulled out some jeans and a t-shirt, before getting changed and looking in the mirror. His face, it still didn't look right. He'd just spent his whole morning working out and nothing had changed! What was he supposed to do, mould his face back into shape? He ran his fingers along his cheek and jaw line, running them onto his neck. His red and sticky neck. It made him feel sick.

"Casey, you're lunch is ready!" Brax called and Casey stopped, dead in his tracks. How was he supposed to get out of this one? "Coming?" He called back, dreading what the rest of the day had in store for him.

"Hello stranger" Ricky said to him as Casey walked into the living room. "Hi" he said before looking over to the table where Brax was sitting eating his lunch; next to him a plate of chips and fried egg. Casey felt sick. "Actually I'm not that hungry, so I'll get something-" but he was cut off by Brax. "Case, this is like your favourite food and anyways after the morning you've had you need to keep your strength up.

 _What strength?_ Casey said to himself as he sighed and walked over to the table. He had no choice. He sat down and picked up his fork, feeling sick as he watched the yolk in the fried egg move. This wasn't supposed to happen. He started to push the chips around his plate and he felt the lump in his throat slowing rise. He couldn't do this.

Brax noticed that Casey was being picky, but he couldn't understand why, Casey loved fried egg and chips. He carried on watching his little brother from the corner of his eye push his food around. "You alright?" Casey's head snapped up and Brax could sense the panic in Casey's eyes and he couldn't understand why.

"Yeah" Casey replied in an unconvincing tone. He knew he had to eat now. Slowly Casey put his fork into a chip and raised it to his mouth. Taking a deep breath, his legs trembling and jerking non-stop, Casey put the chip in his mouth. He chewed and his face paled. He swallowed and felt his body become guilt ridden.

10 minutes later Casey had managed half a fried egg and 5 chips. It was more than enough. He put his knife and fork down on the plate and Brax looked up to see Casey's barely touched food. "You gonna finish that?" Brax asked, still puzzled by Casey's behaviour. "I told you, I'm not hungry" Casey said bluntly and stood up, walking off to his room. "What was that about?" Ricky asked and Brax just shook his head.

Casey got into his room and locked the door. His body was trembling and he had fresh tears in his eyes. He looked in the mirror, what had he done?

 **I'm sorry for the delay but thank you for reading :) please review, I would love to know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you so much to FrankElza, Fanfiction.79, Gillian Kearney Fan and for reviewing, your support means so much! :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorders so if you feel you might be affected please don't feel like you have to read :)**

Chapter 5:

Casey started pacing up and down in his room. This couldn't be happening. He'd just eaten egg and chips, he had to burn it off. But how? There was no way Brax was going to let him go out after what had just happened, never mind let him exercise. He felt sick, sick to the stomach. Fresh tears were brewing in his eyes and threatening to fall but he wouldn't let them. He couldn't show weakness.

"I don't know what is going through that boy's head" Brax said as he sat down next to Ricky on the sofa. "Maybe it's just a phase" Ricky suggested. She knew Casey was a good kid and wouldn't act out of character unless he was upset or something was bugging him. "Have you tried talking to him?" Ricky asked, she knew that Brax would be able to get through to Casey.

"No, but I'm gonna talk to him later" Brax said and Ricky nodded. "I'm gonna get back to the restaurant, ring me if he's any trouble" Brax said as he stood up from the sofa and kissed Ricky goodbye. "Alright then, I'll see you later."

Brax walked into Angelo's and noticed that Kyle was still working. "You still working?" Brax asked as he walked over to the counter. "Um, yeah we've been quite busy. But don't worry, I've managed" he said and Brax nodded, at least one of them was good for something. "Erm Brax, I think there's something you should know" Kyle said and Brax frowned. Kyle gestured for Brax to move closer, so Brax leaned over on the counter.

"Earlier today, I saw Casey running on the beach" Kyle said and Brax raised his eyebrow. "I don't see the problem" he said, wondering why Kyle seemed so concerned. "Wait there's more. When I seen him he was struggling to run, he looked exhausted; like he was about collapse. I'm worried about him Brax that's all." Brax sighed, now he knew something was definitely going on with Casey. However Brax knew he wouldn't admit it and after what Kyle had seen, Brax had to step in.

"Okay thanks Kyle, have you noticed anything up with Casey recently?" Kyle thought, "he seems to be acting a bit strange but I think it's just a phase." Brax nodded, "yeah that's what Ricky said, I'm probably just worrying over nothing." Kyle panicked, "wait no, you should still talk to him" he said and Brax smiled. "Don't you worry, I will."

Casey rested his head against the mirror and let the tears fall; he couldn't stop them. What had his life become? He hated it and wanted it to stop, why did his neck and face have to look different; why did he have to hate his body? His body was rocked by a sob and he stepped back looking at himself in the mirror. His face, it was red all the time. Why? He dropped to floor and starting doing press ups, thinking that if he couldn't go out and exercise he'd stay inside and exercise.

He started to push himself, up and down as fast as he could, quickly changing to sit ups in the hopes it might help things. He had a whirlwind of emotions running through his body, anger, upset, frustration and anxiety; they were all there. He couldn't stop them, it was uncontrollable, the only way he could control them was to exercise and eat less; so that's what he was going to do.

"Hi" Brax said as he walked through the door and Ricky turned round, surprised to see him. "What are you doing back?" She asked, knowing Brax had only been gone for 30 minutes. Brax walked forward and sat down on the table, rubbing his hands over his face. "What's wrong?" Ricky asked, sitting down opposite him. "It's just what Kyle said" he said and Ricky looked confused. "What did Kyle say?" She asked. "He told me that earlier, he'd seen Casey running along the beach and he looked like he was struggling. He said that Casey looked exhausted and was on the verge of collapsing."

Ricky sat there, not quite believing what Brax had just told her. Why would Casey do something like that? He works in a gym, he knows the dangers of over exercising and yet he does it. "Well now you need to talk to him" Ricky said and Brax nodded. "I know, I know. I'll speak to him in a bit, I just don't understand what's going through his head." Ricky smiled and put her hand on Brax's. "Look I'm sure he's fine and whatever emotional state he's in now, he'll be out of in a few days." Brax smiled, "yeah, I hope you're right."

Casey lay down on his bedroom floor, out of breath. For a solid 20 minutes he'd just done push ups and sit ups non-stop. He was shattered. He'd heard Brax come in and he knew that meant that in around 10 minutes Brax would come and speak to him. He stood up and looked in the mirror, his face was red and he had tear lines running down them. Looking around his room, Casey found a spare gym towel in his bag and he used to dry off his face. There he looked better didn't he?

Half an hour later and Casey knew this was it. He'd heard footsteps down the hall and he knew they were Brax's, so he stood there, by the window waiting for the knock. As if on cue, he heard a knock at his door. "Casey, open up" Brax said as he stood outside trying to open the locked door. Casey stood there unsure of what to do, if he didn't open then the door then Brax would just kick it down so Casey knew what he had to do. Slowly walking over to the door, Casey braced himself for what was about to happen next.

"Hey Case, are you gonna let me in?" Brax asked as Casey opened the door. "Um yeah" Casey said as he opened the door wider and Brax walked in. Brax sat down on Casey's bed, while Casey walked over to the window. "Is something bothering you Casey?" Brax asked and Casey cringed. Why did his brother have to be so blunt?

"No, I'm fine" Casey replied, while trying to form an excuse in head. "Are you sure?" Brax asked. Casey shuffled his feet and looked down, he felt like a little kid again. He thought, his mind going at a 1000 miles, he thought and he had a lightbulb moment. "Um well there is something" Casey said Brax looked at him intently. "I've just been feeling a bit ill"

 **Thank you so much for reading and please review, I would love to know what you think :)**

 **Also I apologise for the delay in updating, I've been very busy with school work and revision but I should be back on track soon :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you so much to Heather, , Fanfiction.79, FrankElza and LINA for reviewing, it means so much :)**

 **TRIGGER: this does contain eating disorder so if you feel like you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 6:

"No, I'm fine" Casey replied, while trying to form an excuse in head. "Are you sure?" Brax asked. Casey shuffled his feet and looked down, he felt like a little kid again. He thought, his mind going at a 1000 miles, he thought and he had a lightbulb moment. "Um well there is something" Casey said Brax looked at him intently. "I've just been feeling a bit ill"

Brax looked at Casey with a questioning look on his face. "You're ill?" Brax asked and Casey nodded. "Yeah, just been feeling a bit under the weather" Casey said, trying to sound more confident in what he was saying. "Have you got a headache or sore throat?" Brax asked, trying to work out if Casey was telling the truth.

Casey froze, he didn't think this far forward. What was he supposed to say? Brax was never going to believe him. "Erm no, just feel a bit tired and not up to eating" Casey said, hoping that the eating part would mean he wouldn't have to eat later on.

"Right, do you want to get down the doctors or for me to contact Nate?" Brax asked and Casey's eyes widened.

"No, no, I'll be fine. I just need some time to myself" Casey said. He tried to read Brax's face, but he couldn't. "Okay, if you need me just shout" Brax said, smiling at Casey before walking out.

Casey walked over to his bed and flopped down onto it. He was relieved but then nervous at the same time. What he's told Brax would only last for a while, then he would have to think of something else to say. He also didn't know if Brax believed him, but he didn't question him and in Casey's eyes that's good enough.

"What did he say?" Ricky asked as Brax walked back into the living room. "He said that he's been feeling ill" Brax said as he sat back down next to her. "You don't sound convinced" Ricky said in a questioning tone. "It's just when Casey is ill, he moans like crazy. That hasn't happened yet" Brax explained and Ricky nodded.

She knew that when Casey was ill, he would make sure the whole world knew. He would moan, groan and whine all day, so Ricky could see where he was coming from. "So what do you think is going on?" Ricky asked him and Brax sighed. "I don't know, I really don't know."

Casey lay on his bed, still thinking about that afternoons events. He looked at his clock and realised it was nearly 2:30, he should get out soon, except Brax probably wouldn't let him. He rubbed his hand across his face and rubbed his eyes. The same horrible feeling came back one him and he realised that after eating something at lunch, he hadn't had a chance to burn it off.

Quickly standing up from the bed he walked over to the mirror and lifted up his top. It made him want to be sick. He could see where his lunch had gone and he ran his fingers over it, cringing at the same time. Of course, you couldn't really see his lunch but to Casey, it stood out like a sore thumb.

"I mean, he's exercising more" Brax said as he got up and went out to the kitchen, where he saw Casey's half eaten plate of food. "Right, is that a bad thing?" Ricky asked, not quite sure where Brax was going. "I don't know, it's just if he's not eating then that's bad" Brax said and Ricky nodded. "But he owns a gym, surely he knows about healthy eating and exercise." Brax sighed, "that's what worries me."

"1...2...3...4...5" Casey said, panting as he started his press ups after 50 sit ups. This was not how his day was supposed to go. He was supposed to be outside right now exercising, instead he wasn't and was inside secretly exercising. If Brax came in now he was screwed, but Casey didn't care.

He stopped and stood up, walking over to the mirror, his heart beating fast. He lifted up his top and sighed, clenching his fists. Nothing had changed. His 'fat and abnormal' stomach still looked fat and abnormal. Why was this happening to him? What was wrong with him?

 **Not that happy with this but still, thank you for reading and please review :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you so much to FrankElza, , LINA and Fanfiction.79 for reviewing, they always put a smile on my face :)**

 **TRIGGER: this contains eating disorders if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 7:

"Hey" Heath said as he arrived home. It was 3pm, which meant he had time to go home and get changed then go out for a surf. "Hey" Brax replied from the kitchen. "Where's Casey?" Heath asked, walking into the kitchen where Brax was. "He's in his room, says he doesn't feel very well. Ricky's nipped out for some things" Brax explained and Heath laughed.

"Wait, you're telling me that Casey's ill and the whole world didn't know?" Brax smiled, "yep, which is what's concerning me." Heath frowned, "what are your big brother instincts telling you now?" Brax shot Heath an unimpressed look, before carrying on with what he was saying.

"It's just he's exercising more and eating less; he owns a gym Heath he should know this stuff." Heath nodded, but he still couldn't see why Brax was worried. Casey was probably just sorting himself out, getting ready to move on. "Look, I just know that something is wrong, alright" Brax said, he could tell by Heath's face that he didn't believe him.

"Well, I was gonna ask him if he wanted to go for a surf" Heath said. "Well, I think you should. Try and get him out of the house" Brax said and Heath nodded before walking off in the direction of Casey's room.

Casey stood, looking out of the window, just staring and not thinking. He heard a knock on his door; he couldn't be bothered for this. "What?" Casey asked, sounding really irritated. "Just me" Heath said he walked in.

"What do you want, Heath?" Casey was not in the mood. "I heard that someone's not feeling well" Heath said, slightly teasing his younger brother. "No Heath seriously, what do you want?" Casey asked, really not in the mood for any of his brother's games. "I was gonna see if you wanted to go surfing with me?" Heath asked.

Casey froze. He couldn't go surfing. Everyone would look at him, stare at him and laugh. He still had to burn off his lunch, you could still see where it was. He could not go surfing. Heath would laugh, make fun of him. His abnormal little brother, who can't even have a perfect body.

"Erm no, I'm alright" Casey replied, hoping Heath would just drop the subject and leave. Unfortunately for Casey, Heath had other ideas. "It's just a surf Case, the fresh air might make you feel better." Casey sighed. "I'm busy", he said, hoping Heath would get the point. "In my room" he added on.

Heath sighed, he knew Casey wasn't going to come surfing so all he was doing now, was wasting his breath. "Alright, alright I'll go" Heath said, turning round and walking out.

Casey sighed and leaned back against the windowsill. He now had to get out, get out to the gym or something; he just had to get out somewhere. He ran his hand through his hair, he could get out, definitely.

"What did he say?" Brax asked Heath as he walked into the living room and flopped down on the sofa. "He said no, apparently he's busy in his room" Heath explained and Brax frowned. "Busy doing what?" He still wasn't convinced that Casey was telling the truth.

"I don't know; I didn't ask" Heath said before standing up and grabbing his keys. "Where you off to?" Brax asked. "Well I'm still going for a surf, don't care what grumpy jaws says" he said smiling, before walking out the door.

Casey paced his room, thinking about what he could do. He leave his room and tell Brax that he was going to surf, but then when he told Heath his lie would be found out so that wouldn't work. Casey flopped down on his bed, at this rate he was never going to get out. Then he had an idea.

Sitting up, Casey looked over to the window and smiled. He could just jump out the window, go to the gym, then come back; Brax and Heath would never know. He quickly got changed into his gym clothes, being extra careful not to look in the mirror and cringed when he saw his stomach.

He grabbed his trainers and put them on, before standing up and walking over to the window. He opened it as wide as it would go, before looking back at his door and checking it was locked. When he sure everything was in place, he jumped up on to the windowsill, looked down and then hopped down.

Casey landed on the ground and smiled, he'd done it. Now all he had to do was go to the gym and get back to the house on time. As he walked, Casey could see Heath in the distance, so he knew he had to stay out of sight. He ran down the path and made his way to the gym.

Brax stopped what he was doing and looked out of the kitchen window. He just couldn't work out what was going with Casey. He hasn't seen him all afternoon, he decided to go and check on him.

"Casey" Brax said as he knocked on the door. No reply, he tried again and still no reply. He tried to open the door but it was locked, Brax just shrugged and assumed Casey was asleep. After all, Casey was ill.

Casey made it to gym and looked through the window, checking that Kyle was there. He wasn't, so went in and walked over to the treadmill. He got started and smiled, maybe today wasn't going to be so bad.

 **Thank you for reading, please review :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you so much to Fanfiction.79, LINA, and FrankElza for reviewing, it means so much and i hope you enjoy this chapter as things will start to heat up for Casey :)**

 **TRIGGER: this contains eating disorders if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 8:

Casey had been at the gym for 15 minutes and so far it was going well. No one he knew had walked in, and he hadn't seen anyone walk past him. This was all he wanted and he couldn't see why Brax didn't see that.

He wasn't exactly lying to Heath, he was busy, just not in his room. They wouldn't understand. He didn't look right and he probably didn't think right. It was his chest, his neck and face, his arms and his legs. They were red, didn't feel right or look right.

The thoughts were making Casey more worked up. Why couldn't he just be normal? Why did he have to look _fat_? He knew people were ashamed to be seen with him, they were ashamed to look at him. Why? Why did he have to be him?

Heath finished up his surf, feeling refreshed; he needed that. He gathered his surf board and started making his way up the beach, deciding that he now needed food. He walked up the beach, taking in the nice breeze. As he got to the top of the beach he looked around him, spotting the gym. He was going to just walk off when he spotted someone familiar inside.

Heath walked closer and his suspicions were confirmed. Casey was in the gym. Why was Casey in the gym? Wasn't he busy in his room? Heath watched his brother, he seemed to be pushing himself hard, harder that Heath thought Casey could go.

He wanted to know why Casey had lied to him. Why if he wanted to go to the gym, he didn't just tell them and go. Heath needed to find out, Brax was worried about Casey and at this moment in time, so was he in a way.

Heath walked into the gym and crept up behind Casey on the treadmill. "Alright little brother?" Heath asked, putting his hand down on Casey's shoulder. He felt Casey freeze. Heath moved round and stopped the treadmill so Casey wouldn't fall off.

"What are you doing here, Heath?" Casey asked. He knew he'd blown it. Heath was going to take him home, sit him down and make him explain himself to Brax. "Well I was out for a surf, enjoying myself, then I was walking up the beach when I spotted someone who I knew in the gym. Someone who told me they were busy in their room" Heath said as Casey bowed his head, trying to avoid looking at Heath.

Casey didn't say anything, so Heath carried on. "I'm not bothered about the surf Case, I'm bothered that you've lied. Come on, let go for a walk" he said, putting his arm around Casey's shoulder and taking him the gym.

As the pair walked down the path, Casey noticed that this wasn't the way back home; it was the way to the beach. Was Heath going to be make him surf? He couldn't, Casey would just refuse. Instead of surfing though, Heath just started to talk to him.

"What's going on with you then?" Heath asked. Casey didn't answer, he couldn't, what was he supposed to tell Heath. _Oh yeah I just so happen to have an abnormal body where nothing looks right, that every time he went out he felt like the whole world was looking at him and frowning._ There was no way Casey could say that.

"Nothing, I'm just not feeling too good" Casey said casually, hoping to brush off any suspicion. "You and I both know that's not true" Heath said, raising his eyebrows at his younger brother. "Are you having girl problems?" Heath asked. "No!" Casey replied, no girl would ever love him.

"Well what is it then, because according to Brax you haven't been acting yourself lately" Heath said as he and Casey carried on walking along the beach. Casey felt so uncomfortable, part of him just wanted to tell Heath how he felt but the other part knew that Heath would just agree with him.

Of course Casey had a pathetic body, nothing he did could ever improve it. No matter how much he ate or how much exercise he did, nothing changed it. However little did Casey know his body was already started to be affected, he just couldn't see it and he wouldn't see it.

"Look Heath please, I just wanna get home" Casey said. "No, you need to tell me what's going on" Heath said and Casey rolled his eyes. This was getting old and he could feel anger building up inside him. There was NOTHING going on with him, why couldn't Heath just listen to him?

"Are you having man issues?" Heath asked. That was it. "You know what Heath! There is nothing going on with me!" Casey shouted, moving away from Heath. "Keep your nose out of business!" Casey shouted before turning round and running away from Heath.

Heath just stood there, he knew wouldn't go home so he better ring Brax. Something was definitely going on with his younger brother. Heath had never been the concerned type but something was bugging Casey and he couldn't put his finger on it. Heath sighed and pulled out his phone to ring Brax.

Brax walked around the kitchen and clapped his hands together. He had nothing to do but wanted to stay home just in case Casey was ill. He looked at the clock and sighed, if Casey was asleep then he'd been asleep for quite a while. Brax was about to go and check on Casey when his phone rang.

"Hello" Brax said as he answered his phone.

"Brax it's Heath, it's Casey" Heath said, not sensing Brax's confusion.

"What do you mean, Casey's asleep in his room" Brax said and he heard Heath sigh. "Heath what's going on?"

"I found Casey at the gym working very hard, I pulled him out and took him for a walk. I wanted to know why he had lied to me about being busy in his room. I started asking him questions but he didn't answer and in the end he kicked off and now he's ran away" Heath explained, even though he was on the phone; Heath knew Brax was running a hand through his hair.

"Right me and you both know he won't come home for a while. Kyle's still at the restaurant so I'll tell him to keep an eye out. You just carry on with what you're doing, if you see him though try and get him home and I'll stay at home in case he comes back. Okay?" Brax said.

"Yep, see ya mate" Heath said, before ending the call.

Brax sighed and ran a hand through his hair, something was definitely going on with Casey. Normally with a little push you get Casey to open up about his feelings but not this time, which meant that his feelings went a lot deeper. If only Brax knew how deep Casey's feelings went.

 **Thank you so much for reading, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you to FrankElza, Fanfiction.79, and LINA for reviewing, it means so much :)**

 **TRIGGER: this contains eating disorder if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 9:

Casey ran and ran, he didn't know where he was going or what he was doing. He couldn't handle Heath asking him the questions he didn't want to answer. He couldn't take it he needed relief and exercise was the thing that gave the him relief; most of the time.

He kept on running, and he kept on reminding himself why. Why he was running, why he wasn't eating; it was to perfect was wrong with his otherwise abnormal body. The thing that bugged Casey the most was his face and neck; his jaw line and where they met.

It looked like one whole thing, you couldn't see the part where his neck ended and his head started, plus his cheeks were always red, even when he hadn't been working out. He hated it.

Subconsciously Casey didn't realise that by thinking about what stood out, he'd speeded up and bushing himself even harder. He just kept running and telling himself that this would help. That this would help his face that was always red, his neck that he could never cover up, his bright red and sweaty legs that didn't look right with his big feet and it would help his stomach and his chest, make him look 'better'.

Brax looked through his phone until he found Kyle's name; he pressed call.

"Hello" Kyle answered.

"Kyle, it's Brax. Something has happened with Casey and he's run off, if you see him either get to stay at the restaurant or phone me and I'll find him, okay?" Brax said.

"Yeah okay, see ya Brax" Kyle said before hanging up.

Brax sighed, something was going on with Casey and it had only been a few days. He couldn't believe that in one day Casey had gone for a workout, basically refused to eat lunch, lied to Heath, jumped out his window just to go to the gym and now he'd run away. What was going on with his little brother?

Casey kept on running, he was becoming tired and out of breath but was that and excuse to stop? No. He had to keep going. He knew that Heath had probably told Brax, so that meant he had two mad brothers. Then Brax would have probably told Kyle which just meant he would have a concerned brother who wouldn't leave him alone to deal with as well.

Casey looked down at his watch, he'd ran away from Heath half an hour ago and he was still running; but he didn't know where. Casey knew he could have to go back soon, before Brax became overly concerned and called the police for nothing- over protective big brothers.

Casey decided that Brax could wait another half an hour, he wouldn't mind, well Casey wouldn't mind Brax probably would. He could feel a stitch starting to form and he mentally kicked himself, this meant he wasn't for enough; he'd have to work out till he passed out.

Brax sat down on his bed and sighed. He looked at the clock, Heath had rang him 45 minutes ago to inform that Casey had ran away and he hadn't heard anything since. Brax was guessing that Casey must have already run pretty far as Kyle hadn't seen him.

It worried him, it hadn't even been a week and Casey was already acting up. But why? As far as Brax knew he didn't have a girlfriend, although knowing Heath he'd already been asked that question. Brax just lay back on his bed and let his mind wander.

Casey stumbled against a tree and breathed heavily, he'd pushed himself far this time. He looked at his watch, he'd been running for an hour, he should probably get back. Except he didn't want to, he didn't want to have to leave this relief. The only relief he had at home was doing exercise in his room, even then, that was if someone didn't walk in. He didn't want to stop, but he had to. No he didn't he could just carry on. Wait, he had to go home, Brax would be thinking about him. Casey leaned his head back against the tree and sighed.

But Brax wouldn't understand, he could see what was wrong with Casey, everyone could, it stood out. Except Brax wouldn't tell him, he would just let him embarrass himself. Casey couldn't tell Brax that his face wasn't right, that he was abnormal and his body had let him down. Brax would just laugh, never mind Heath.

Casey sighed, he had to go back. He used the little energy he had left and pushed himself off from the tree. He began to run but he didn't get much speed, he tried to get good pace but he just ended up jogging and stumbling at the same time. His breathing was heavy and he could feel sweat all over his body.

It made Casey's skin crawl, it felt like his whole body was a balloon, that it was bloated and he knew that if he could feel it everyone could see it. Of course that wasn't the case. Casey just pushed through the pain he was feeling, telling himself that it was all worth it.

It took Casey an hour and a half to get home, meaning that Brax would be even more worried and that Casey exhausted. Casey tried to open the door but then he realised it was locked, he dug his hand into his pocket and lazily put it into the door. He unlocked to door and then put all of his weight against the door when opening it.

Casey stumbled into the house, his breathing short and heavy; he literally had no energy left. He knocked the lamp as he walked in, causing it to drop to the floor and the bulb to smash. He stumbled over to the sofa, then collapsed down on it, his chest moving fast.

Brax heard the noise in the living room and shot up from his bed. Was that Casey? Brax quickly opened his door and headed through to the living room, however the sight that met him he was not expecting.

"Casey?" Brax said, walking over to the sofa where he could see Casey's limp body and hear his short and heavy breathing. He saw Casey lying down on the sofa, he looked exhausted. "Casey what happened?" Brax asked, as he keeled down in front of his little brother. Casey just shook his head. "Casey what happened?"

 **Thank you for reading, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you so much to FrankElza, LINA and for reviewing, your support means so much :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorders if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 10:

"Casey what happened?" Brax asked, as he keeled down in front of his little brother. Casey just shook his head. "Casey what happened?"

Brax had no clue what was going on. His little brother had just came home, crashed down on the sofa completely exhausted and he wasn't saying anything. What was really going on with Casey? Why had his behaviour suddenly changed? What was going through his head? "Case, what's going on with you?" Brax asked, running his hand through Casey's hair, trying to calm him down.

Casey continued to lie there on the sofa, his breathing alternating from fast to slow but always being heavy. He tried to move but he couldn't; he didn't even register Brax kneeling down and talking to him. He didn't think about what Brax would think now, he was too exhausted.

Had he took it too far? Should he have just came home? No! He was right to stay out and run, it would do him good. But would it really do him good?

"Casey, look at me" Brax said. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, he wasn't even sure what had happened to Casey. He looked exhausted, Brax could gather that much, but he didn't know much else. "Casey, look at me" Brax said again, but this time firmer.

Casey groaned and Brax used the hand he was using to stroke his hair, to pull Casey's head to look at him. Brax could see Casey was sweaty and pale, he looked like he'd worked out and had nothing to eat or drink in days. "Casey, I need you to sit up for me and I'm going to get you something to eat and drink" Brax stated as he tried to help Casey sit up.

"No" Casey said, but it came out more like a whisper. Brax sighed, why was Casey so determined to not eat? "Casey you need to eat" Brax said firmly as he put his arms on Casey's biceps and tried to pull his younger brother up into a sitting position.

He managed fairly easy as Casey was too exhausted to put up a fight. As he sat Casey up, he noticed a tight grip on his arms and looked down to see Casey who looked like he was going to throw up. "Casey?" Brax questioned, trying to guess what his younger brother's next move would be.

As sat up he felt a wave of dizziness rush up to his head. He did the only thing he could thing to do and cling on to the Brax; which turned out to be a bad idea. He felt a wave of nausea rush through his body too and tried to look down. Why did exercise have this affect on him?

He could feel himself swaying and Brax's strong grip holding him steady. He just told himself that at the end of this, it would all be worth it.

"Casey, what do you need?" Brax asked, hoping that a different approach would help him understand what was going on with Casey. He did a response but not a one that he was hoping for. "Shower" Casey replied, his breaths raspy. "Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Brax asked, praying that Casey would say yes, he needed it. "No" Casey replied, before going to stand up.

"Woah" Brax said as Casey stood up suddenly. "Just take it easy." Casey and began to stiffly walk in the direction of the bathroom, Brax following closely behind in case anything happened. "If you need me, just shout" Brax told him as he walked into the bathroom.

Brax sighed and walked back into the living room. He looked at the smashed lamp on the floor and groaned, he guessed he'd have to clean it up and then buy a replacement. He went into the kitchen to get a brush, before going back through into the living room. As he got to work, his head filled with thoughts about Casey.

What was going through his head? What had gotten into him? Was this just a phase or was it more serious? It was that thought that made Brax stop in his tracks. Was it more serious? He didn't even know what 'it' was but if it was serious then they needed to do something about it didn't they? However, he was interrupted from his thoughts when Heath walked in the door.

"I still can't find... woah what happened here?" Heath asked as he walked in the door to find Brax sweeping up the remains of the lamp. "An exhausted Casey happened" Brax informed him and Heath frowned. "Wait, he came home?" Heath questioned. Brax sighed. "Yes, around 20 minutes ago."

"He came home, absolutely exhausted, he knocked the lamp over not looking where he was going and then collapsed down on the sofa." Heath frowned, that wasn't like Casey. "But why?" Brax propped the broom up against the wall and sat down on the sofa, Heath followed and sat down next to him.

"I don't know what is going with him, he came home and I tried to find out what had happened; all I got was grunts" Brax explained and Heath chuckled. "I thought he was last that stage of his teenage years." Brax raised an eyebrow at him, this was not how the conversation was supposed to go.

"As I was saying, I kept asking him if he wanted something to eat and drink seeming as he looked pale but he just refused" Brax explained, before he was interrupted by Heath, again. "But you and I both know that after you've been working out, you don't feel that hungry" Heath said. "Yes but you and I both know how important it is to keep hydrated" Brax added.

"Also as you mentioned working out, Casey seemed to have completely exhausted himself, he was the verge of collapsing; he looked like he was going to throw up" Brax said and Heath nodded taking in all of the information. "So what do you think we should do now?" Heath asked, he wasn't really sure what was going on so therefore didn't want to make any decisions on what to do next.

"I say we just watch him", Brax said, "what him and make sure he's not putting himself under too much strain." Heath nodded. "Exactly, for all we know, Casey is just going through a 'man phase' and got a bit off track" Heath said, trying to lighten the situation. Brax frowned at the 'man phase' but before he had a chance to say anything, the bathroom door opened and Casey made his way to his room. "That's my cue to leave then" Heath said, before standing up and walking off the take a shower.

Brax leaned back against the sofa and sighed. He hoped that Casey was just going through a 'man phase' but there was a part of him that just didn't quite believe it.

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed and remember to review to let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you to Fanfiction.79, FrankElza, LINA and for reviewing, your support for this story means so much :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorder AND self harm, if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 11:

Casey walked into his room and locked the door. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and walked over to his wardrobe and pulled out some joggers, a t-shirt and a hoodie to cover as much of his body as possible.

He put the clothes down on his bed, avoiding the mirror as he did so. However it's like his eyes were just drawn to mirrors. He looked in the mirror and traced his hands over his chest. Was it right? Did it feel right? Did it look right?

The truth be told, Casey's chest and torso didn't look right; in fact it looked unhealthy. Except Casey couldn't see that, whenever he looked in the mirror, nothing looked right.

He ran his hands over his ribs and he could slightly feel them; that made him smile, he was making progress. But not quite enough. He was thin, but not thin enough. Would people notice? Had people noticed?

He ran his hand over the join of his neck and head, he frowned; it still didn't feel right nor look right. But why? Casey had done everything, but nothing ever seemed to work. Was he a failure? Was it his fault? Of course it wasn't! Of course it was!

He ran his hand through his hair and started to pace his room. He didn't have the heart to get dressed, he just didn't want to face _his_ body. Nothing was working, and he was running out of ideas.

He was sure someone would notice soon; if they did how would they react? Good? Badly? Would they understand? Well Casey knew that they wouldn't understand, no one would, but they could already see what was wrong with him. Casey knew it.

He knew that they tried to hide their disgust when he walked into a room. He knew that they were embarrassed to be seen with him. He was embarrassed to be seen with himself. How would Brax feel? How would Heath feel? How would Kyle feel?

He looked at the clock and realised that he'd been thinking and worrying and stressing for 10 minutes. He sighed and sat down on his bed, but stood straight back up and cringed by what he felt in his stomach. He started to pace his room again, the clothes on the bed long since forgotten. His thoughts were dominating his head.

He couldn't hear himself think, his head was pounding but he didn't have a headache. It was the thoughts; the thoughts that just wouldn't leave him alone. _It won't work. Nothing will work. You've tried everything._

Casey hit his head in an attempt to get the thoughts out, but it didn't work. He tried to take deep breaths but the thoughts just got louder and louder; they wouldn't stop. He looked at the clothes on his bed and thought about how they could block out the sound. Could they really block out the sound.

Brax was finishing packing up the kitchen but the only thing on his mind was Casey. He just couldn't work out what was going on. He knew it wasn't girl problems like Heath though it might be and he knew that stress from school was out of the question, because Casey wasn't in school.

Obviously he was worried, but just like it always was with Casey, Brax would be left guessing what was wrong with Casey until he got it right. Except this time he had no guesses. He knew at some point that he'd have to get 'it', it's just what 'it' was scared Brax.

Casey put his hands over his ears, hoping to block out the voices. They'd already told him; why were they saying it again? Why were they repeating themselves? He just wanted them to stop, to go away. They'd been building up and up, it scared Casey but at the same time he listened to them.

Casey looked round his room for anything that could stop the voices. He looked over to his desk and saw the unopened pack of shaving razors he'd bought yesterday. A thought flashed through Casey's mind. No he couldn't. He couldn't. _He_ couldn't.

He looked at the pack and heard his thoughts pound in his head. The thought sounded so good, it sounded like an escape plan. He walked over to the desk and picked up the pack with his shaky hands. He tore it open and took out one of the blades.

He looked at it, so small and silver, in his shaky hand. He took a deep breath and raised his hand up to his bicep. He pressed the silver blade against his arm and relished the coolness of it. He felt the blade dig deeper into his arm and the pain rushing through his body.

For reason Casey liked it, he could breath, the thoughts had gone; his head was clear. He pulled the blade away and looked at his arm, he'd cut it and it was bleeding but not deep enough to need medical attention.

Casey stood their for a few minutes, just processing what he had done. He knew that it wasn't good, but there was something about it that meant Casey could release feeling he never thought he had. He found an old t-shirt on the floor and wrapped it around his arm. Once the bleeding had stopped, he hid the t-shirt under his bed and decided that he should probably get changed.

As he was getting changed, Casey noticed that he didn't feel so self conscious. Maybe what he'd just done had helped?

"What you making?" Heath asked as he walked into the kitchen to find Brax cooking. "Pasta and sauce", Brax said. "I'm hoping Case might eat some" he added. Heath scoffed. "I dunno why you're bothering, he'll come round eventually." Brax rolled his eyes. "Can you go and see if Casey wants something to eat" Brax instructed as he started to put the pasta and sauce on the plate.

"Case, Casey" Heath said as he knocked on Casey's locked door. "What?" Casey asked from inside. "Brax made pasta, was wondering if you wanted some" Heath said. "No thanks, I'm just gonna go to bed" Casey replied. "Alright then" Heath said as he walked away from Casey's room.

"What did he say?" Brax asked a she started to eat his pasta. "He said he's gonna go to bed" Heath said as he sat down. Brax sighed. "Relax big bro, Casey's fine" Heath said.

Casey looked at himself in the mirror, he was thin but not thin enough; he was going to take things to next the level. He got down on the floor and started doing press ups, he was not going to give up.

 **Thank you for reading, I know this chapter wasn't the happiest, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you so much to FrankElza, LINA, and Fanfiction.79 for reviewing, I can't express how much your support means and I'm sorry for the delay in updating :)**

 **TRIGGER: this contains eating disorders if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 12:

The next day Casey woke up. He brought his hand up to his bicep and felt the cut he'd made yesterday. He smiled, remembering that he had taken control, but he pushed the thoughts that he was wrong for liking it to the back of his mind.

He sat up and smiled, yesterday he'd made a promise to himself that he was going to try harder. He looked at the clock, it read 8am which meant that everyone was probably already up; well maybe Heath was still in bed but apart from that.

That meant that everyone would have eaten breakfast so he could just avoid it and go to the gym. He got out of bed and walked over to his wardrobe, pulling out some shorts because he was going to the gym, a t-shirt because he liked t-shirts and a hoodie to try and hide what he did last night.

He finished getting ready and then walked out of his room, expecting to walk into an empty kitchen and living room. Except he didn't; of course he forgot about Kyle. Casey walked into the living room and located out his shoes. He went over and sat down on the couch, taking his shoes and putting them on his feet. He could feel Kyle watching him from his place at the table but Casey just kept his head down and eyes on his shoes.

"You not want any breakfast?" Kyle asked, watching Casey who looked like he was ready to go out; ready to go oiut and do some exercise. "I'm not really that hungry" Casey said, still ignoring Kyle's gaze. "Are you sure, I can make you some bacon" Kyle said.

Brax had briefly informed him about what had happened the night before, Kyle had gathered it was something about Casey exhausting himself. He worried about Casey they all were, well Heath didn't show it but he was worried, Kyle could see it.

Casey thought about it; bacon. Bacon. Bacon? It was meat which meant it had protein in it, surely that was a good thing for building up his body. But then he remembered that bacon had fat on it, sometimes lots of fat. Also knowing Kyle, he wouldn't chop off the fat.

"No thanks, I'm alright" Casey said, standing up and turning to face Kyle, knowing he'd have to do it at some point. "Ok then, if you're sure" Kyle said as he watched Casey leave the house. Even though he wasn't as close to Casey as Brax and Heath were, he could still feel that something was wrong.

Casey left the house and decided to go to the gym. He broke out into a jog but then immediately stopped when he felt a shooting pain in his stomach. He grabbed his stomach in an attempt to stop the pain, of course it did nothing.

Casey tried to think what had caused it; he hadn't eaten in well, he didn't know how long. Maybe he should have eaten that bacon, maybe even just the bread. No! This was good, he could learn to survive. He took a deep breath, before standing back to his full height, ignoring the shooting pain in his stomach.

Roughly 10 minutes later and exhausted Casey reached the gym. He waited outside a few moments to catch his breath, knowing that if he was to walk in all breathless and tired he would be harassed, not that he already wasn't.

After a few minutes Casey was ready, he looked through the window just to check that Brax or Heath weren't in. No they weren't that meant Casey was free to do whatever he wanted without someone telling him what he can and can't do.

Casey went over to the weights and got himself situated with 25kg, deciding he'd start off slow and then build it up. After a few of the 25kg, Casey realised that he was actually quite weak. "You alright there Case?" Andy asked, as he spotted Casey on the weights.

Casey put the weights back on the stand and sat up, turning to face Andy. "Yeah I'm fine" Casey said casually. "You sure? It looked like you were struggling" Andy said as Casey stood up. "I'm actually done here" Casey said, walking away from Andy, leaving him confused.

15 minutes later Kyle walked in, not surpised that he was met with the sight of Casey on the treadmill. "How long's he been in?" Kyle asked Andy. "He's been over there for roughly 15 minutes but then on the weights I don't know, he looked like he was struggling when I arrived" Andy explained.

Struggling? Kyle frowned, Casey knew how to workout safe, he worked in a gym. He looked at his younger brother and he could see he was struggling; he looked exhausted. "Listen Andy i have to get off, can you just keep a watch on him for me?" Kyle asked. "Yeah course" Andy replied before left the gym.

The next few days followed the same pattern. Casey would have no breakfast, then he would go and workout, then he would eat very little for his lunch, spend the rest of the afternoon in his room, eat very little for his tea and then go out for a run.

On the fourth day, Kyle had had enough. Casey had been doing the same thing for days, and Kyle knew it wasn't healthy. He'd noticed that Brax was always watching Casey, but in Kyle's eyes he wasn't watching closely enough.

That morning Kyle did what he always did; watch Casey tie his shoe laces and leave the house. Except this morning he wasn't just going to stay in the house or go out and do his own thing, he was going to speak to Brax.

Kyle waited until he knew that Casey was at the gym, before grabbing his jacket and keys and leaving the house. He made his way over to the restaurant, knowing that Brax was more likely to listen to him and believe him.

"What can I do for you?" Brax asked as Kyle walked into the restaurant. "Is there somewhere we can talk?" Kyle asked, keeping his voice down so no one stuck their nose in. Brax frowned. "Well can't it just be said here?" Brax asked. "No, it's about Casey" Kyle said. Brax sighed, but gestured for Kyle to follow him.

"So what's this about then?" Brax asked, he tried to sound casual but deep down he was really concerned. "Have you not noticed?" Kyle asked and watched as Brax frowned. "Noticed what?" Brax asked, now just wanting Kyle to tell him.

"The day after Casey came home exhausted, he had no breakfast and then went and worked out for the rest of the morning" Kyle explained, "he's been doing that for the past four days" he added.

Brax rubbed his hand through his hair and sighed. He knew something was going on with Casey, he knew it, and he should have done something sooner. "Where is he now?" Brax asked. "At the gym I presume" Kyle said. "I'm worried about him" Kyle said. "I know, look I'll get it sorted" Brax reassured.

Kyle nodded, before leaving the restaurant. Brax sighed and leaned against the cabinet. Something was definitely going on with Casey and now that Kyle had noticed he couldn't put it off any longer.

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you to FrankElza, LINA, Guest and for reviewing, your support for this story means so much :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorders, if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 13:

Brax had left the restaurant early, wanting to go home and get this whole situation sorted. He knew that Casey was currently at the gym, which meant he'd probably be out for the rest of the morning and possibly the afternoon.

He was worried to say the least, he wasn't sure what he was dealing with or what was going on. Casey had always been the one who just got on with things and never made a fuss, it was always Heath that made a fuss.

He got home and found Ricky sitting on the couch. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Ricky questioned, confused why Brax was home so early. "Yeah, but something's going on" Brax said, sitting down next to her.

"What?" Ricky asked, concerned. "It's about Casey" Brax said, trying to find the right words to say. "What about Casey?" Ricky asked, she'd noticed something was up with Casey but hadn't felt it was her place to say anything. "There's something not quite right about him" Brax said, now worrying Ricky even more.

"He's not eating properly, he's working out much more than usual; I didn't even know Casey was that obsessed about his body. He doesn't seem to interact with us any more, or if he does it's a simple grunt and I just can't seem to get through to him" Brax explained, cursing himself for how bad it sounded.

Ricky sat there and listened, her heart clenching as Brax spoke. She'd noticed that something was up with Casey, but she wasn't one of his brothers and therefore felt out of place trying to speak to Casey.

She had a feeling she knew what Casey was going through, but didn't think Casey was the sort of person to suffer from an eating disorder. But then again was there a specific person who would suffer from an eating disorder?

"What are you thinking?" Brax asked, pulling Ricky from her thoughts. He could tell that she had an idea of what might be happening and he wanted to know because he was really out of his depth.

Ricky sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to hide this from Brax. "Have you ever considered Casey having an eating disorder?" Ricky asked, knowing she was treading on ice.

Brax sat there and processed what Ricky had just said. Casey? Eating disorder? It didn't make sense to Brax, but then at the same time it did and he could see where Ricky had got the idea from.

"How do you- how do you know?" Brax asked, clearly he was in unknown territory. "Look, I don't even know if Casey has one but from the things that you've described and the way Casey has been behaving, I think it's a possibility" Ricky explained.

"What do we do now?" Brax asked. "I think we wait" Ricky said, not sure whay they were supposed to do next. "Wait for what?" Brax asked and now Ricky regretted even telling him her thoughts becuse she had no clue what to do next.

"We wait to see if Casey is going to worse" Ricky said and she could see the disapproval on Brax's face. "But what can I do in the mean time?" Brax asked, all he wanted to do was help his brother.

"You can be there for him and support him, just like you always have" Ricky explained and that made Brax feel a bit better; he was doing something to help.

"I just don't understand Ricky, Casey's not fat" Brax said, still trying to get his head around the possible situation. "It's not about Casey being fat, of course he's not, but it's the way he sees himself" Ricky explained, wondering if she'd just confused Brax even more.

"I just- Casey's happy and healthy" Brax said and Ricky could tell that this was going to be tough. "Look like I said, if Casey does have an eating disorder, then he doesn't see what we see and we have to understand that" Ricky explained, before standing up from the couch.

"I have got to go, but make sure when Casey gets home that he has something to eat" Ricky said as she walked out the door. "Yeah okay" Brax replied. As the door shut behind Ricky, Brax stood up and walked over to the table where the laptop was. He sat down and turned the laptop on, deciding a bit of research wouldn't harm anyone.

Casey finished up at the gym, deciding that a 2 hour work out was good enough for the morning. He put his bag down on a bench in the changing room and looked in the mirror. He was disgusting; his body was covered in sweat and his face was bright red.

He cleaned himself best he could and looked through his bag, trying to find clothes that would cover him up, after all he didn't want people to see what he really looked like; it's not they didn't already know anyways.

He pulled out joggers, a t-shirt and a jumper hoping that would be enough to satisfy him. Carefully avoiding the mirror, he slipped on his joggers but as he went to put his t-shirt on, he couldn't help himself.

Casey looked thinner, just like he said the other day, he looked thinner but wasn't good enough. He quickly put his t-shirt and jumper on before anyone else came in. Casey stuffed everything else in his bag and was getting ready to leave when something crossed his mind.

Should he stay and work out another hour? Would it help? Would someone notice? Why was he always thinking about this?

He looked down his legs, the joggers hiding what they really looked like. He decided not to, the save him the embarrassment of having to show off his legs. He grabbed his bag and walked out the gym, ignoring how the heat burned his skin.

He would rather that, than have to face what his thoughts told him. Casey knew that he couldn't just go home, someone would be there and he couldn't face them. He'd just had a good workout and he didn't want to spoil that, or have anyone else spoil it; he would make sure of that.

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you to FrankElza, Guest, , SuperGuardianNinja and DramaComedySoapRealityFan for reviewing, I can't express how much your support means :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorders and some mentions of self harm if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 14:

Brax had been researching for no more than 10 minutes, when he started to feel that it was a bad idea. He'd ended up looking up on some symptoms of Body Dysmorphic Disorder and it scared him how much Casey related to the symptoms.

Brax knew that after this, he would have to get Casey professional help or speak to Nate. Or he could do both. Brax was worried now, Casey couldn't have got this bad and it was scary. He scrolled down the page, reading the information very carefully.

He looked through the some of symptoms and the ones that caught his attention were: "excessively diet and exercise" and "feel anxious when around other people and avoid social situations". They were exactly Casey.

The diet and exercise was obvious. Casey spent more time in the gym than the people who worked there and as for the diet, he never ate. As for the feeling anxious and avoiding social situations, Brax had noticed that Casey preferred to be on his own in his room; if you tried to make conversation with him you would just get one word answers.

Brax sighed and leaned back in the chair. What has happened to his little brother. His little brother that was no trouble and just got on with things. Now his brother was moody and secretive and not very pleasant to be around.

Casey walked through the blazing heat, his body dripping with sweat. He just carried on walking, knowing that as soon as he was home he would be in the comfort of his own room. His room was in a away the only place he felt safe, no one else was there but him.

He turned the corner and could already see his house. He knew that someone would be home, but his plan was just to avoid them. He would just go straight to his room like he always did.

Brax rubbed his hand over his face, what he was reading was just concerning him even more. He was starting to regret even researching it, although he knew that if he'd gone to see Nate he would have been just have freaked by the information.

What was he supposed to do? After reading what he was reading there was no way Brax could sit back and let Casey slowly kill himself. But was he supposed to do? Before Brax think anything else, he heard the door opening and saw Casey walk in.

Quickly slamming the lid down to hide the screen, Brax stood up to greet Casey. "Alright Case?" Brax asked as Casey walked in through the door and he noticed how red Casey looked. "Yeah I'm fine" Casey said, kicking on his trainers.

"You look pretty hot and sweaty, why don't you go and take a shower while I make some lunch?" Brax suggested. Casey nodded. "I'm going to go and take a shower but don't bother making some lunch, I ate while I was out" Casey said before slumping off in the direction of his room.

Brax sighed and sat back down. What was he going to do now? Casey was pushing him away and Brax couldn't stand it. He opened up the laptop and began reading again, deciding he might as well get as much information as possible.

Casey dropped his bag on his bedroom floor and leaned against the wall. He was exhausted, he knew that, but he'd just had a really good workout and he didn't want to ruin that. He walked through to the bathroom and locked the door.

Casey instantly took his joggers off and revealed his red, sweaty, fat legs. He looked down at them; there was no muscle on them what so ever. He slipped his jumper and t-shirt off before looking in the mirror.

He didn't look right! Nothing looked right! He was thinner Casey could see that, but did he save more muscle? Casey didn't know. He didn't know what he wanted these days. He knew he wanted to be muscular like Brax and Heath, but then he didn't want to eat loads; he couldn't eat loads.

Casey stopped his thoughts, knowing there were getting him now where. He got into the shower and turned it on. Unlike most people, Casey was showering using freezing cold water. Now yes that was because he was sweating, but in general he liked cold showers. He didn't know why though.

Brax could feel himself reaching the end of his tether. He'd researched about the symptoms, the causes, the diagnosis and the recovery. It looked gruelling. He was torn now, he was torn on whether to let Casey be or whether he should act now and get something done.

However there was one thing on his mind. He would have to be the one who explained to the whole family. Now being the Braxtons, Brax knew that there would be a lot of questions, hence the reason he didn't want to tell them just yet.

Casey let the cold water run down his body, enjoying the relief. It felt good, it felt like he was in control and that's what mattered. He looked down at his bicep and could see the scars that were slowly forming.

Casey turned the water of the shower from freezing cold to boiling hot. His breath stuttered as the water changed and now boiling water was hitting his chest. His breaths started to even out and he watched his skin go red.

Brax started to shut down the laptop, knowing he read enough information to last a lifetime. He closed the lid and put the laptop baxk on the side where it goes, before walking off into the kitchen to get himself a beer. He needed one.

Brax sat down on the sofa and sighed, taking a drink from his beer. He heard the door open but didn't turn around to greet them. He could hear two voices so he was guessing maybe Heath and Bianca.

Brax was right, and they sat down at the kitchen table looking at Brax. "Everything alright mate?" Heath asked as he got a beer and sat down by Bianca. "We need to talk" Brax said. "About?" Heath asked. "Casey."

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **Also sorry for the delay in updating, I'm going away for a few days on Monday so everything's a bit hectic :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you to , Lina, DramaComedySoapRealityFan and FrankElza for reviewing, your support means so much :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains an eating disorder if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read it**

Chapter 15:

"We need to talk" Brax said. "About?" Heath asked. "Casey."

"What about Casey?" Bianca asked, this time interested in what was going on. "Yeah what's the scruff down this time?" Heath asked as he took a sip from his beer. Brax sighed, this was going to be harder than he expected; even though it was Heath and his expectations weren't that high anyways.

Brax moved to sit down at the table so he could have a proper conversation. "Whoa what's got you all serious?" Heath asked, almost laughing. Bianca glared at him; unlike Heath she could tell that Brax was genuinely worried.

"What's wrong Brax?" Bianca asked. Brax sighed, this was it; he had to tell them. "I'm worried about Casey" Brax said. "You always are" Heath commented. "Shut up Heath!" Brax snarled. At that tone, Heath knew better than to carry on talking.

"Over the past few weeks, have you noticed something different about Casey?" Brax asked, deciding this was the best way to start. "What do you mean?" Bianca asked. "Well about how much he's been eating and exercising" Brax said.

At this Heath and Bianca didn't say anything because they knew what Brax was talking about. Casey had been acting differently. He was always focused on something else, if someone was talking to him he didn't even pay attention.

"Ricky was talking to me" Brax began but was cut off my Heath. "Of cause Ricky said this" Heath muttered. "Heath, seriously shut up! Something is something definitely going on with Casey; our little brother. I'm trying to tell you so we can get to the bottom of it!"

Heath silenced at Brax's outburst, deciding that in fact he had pushed it too far. "What's going on with him then?" Bianca asked, starting to now get worried. Brax rubbed a hand over his face, praying that they would listen.

"I was talking to Ricky earlier about Casey; telling her why I was concerned. Then she went on to mention that Casey might have an eating disorder" Brax said. "An eating disorder?" Heath questioned. "Why would Casey have one of those?"

"Let me explain" Brax interrupted. "I've done some research and I ended up reading about something called Body Dismorphic Disorder" Brax said, stopping his voice from breaking at the end.

"Okay, what is this Body Dismorphic Disorder?" Bianca asked. "It's something someone who has a distorted view of their body I think, I didn't read in much detail" Brax said. "Why not?" Heath asked.

"Because I was too busy thinking about Casey!" Brax exclaimed. "What did the symptoms say?" Bianca asked, sensing the tension between the brothers. "They said like 'excessively diet and exercise' and 'feel anxious when around other people and avoid social situations'."

"So you think that Casey matches those symptoms?" Bianca asked. Brax nodded. "I don't" Heath said. "Why not?" Brax asked, starting to get slightly annoyed. "Because that's not Casey!" "I never said it was!" Brax shouted. "Casey is not Body Dismorphic Disorder, but I'm pretty sure he has it."

Bianca nodded; in truth she had noticed something different about Casey. Whenever she'd seem him outside he never made any eye contact or attempt at conversation which was unusual for him. He always looked hot and sweaty, like he'd just went for run in the blazing heat wearing all his clothes. It was like he was trying to hide something. She was worried now, there was definitely something going on.

"So what I do you we do now?" Bianca asked. "I really don't know" Brax said. "We do nothing" Heath said firmly. "What is your problem?" Brax asked, truly sick of his brother. "I don't have one, you're just making a big deal out of things."

"A big deal!" Brax exploded. "Do you know how serious this condition is?" Brax hissed, remembering that Casey was in his room. "He can just eat again. It's simple" Heath said. "No it's not" Brax said.

"Body Dismorphic Disorder is serious; it is so serious. I didn't read much on it because when I was reading all I saw was Casey" Brax explained, even though he knew he was wasting his breath. "I'm worried about our little brother. What is your problem with that?" Brax snarled.

Heath stared at the floor, knowing that while Brax was in this mood. It wasn't that he didn't believe Brax. He just didn't get why Brax was so concerned. This was Casey they were talking about; Casey. He had always been a bit weird in Heath's eyes.

"I think we should just calm down and focus on what's important; Casey" Bianca said, wanting to focus on what was important. "You know what, I'm going out" Heath said, standing up from his chair and leaving the house. "Don't worry, he'll come round" Bianca said. Brax just hoped that he would.

Casey made it out of the shower and into his room. He quickly got himself dressed, avoiding the mirror at all costs. Once he had clothes he looked in the mirror. He ran his fingers over his jaw line and lifted up his top. He looked better but not good enough; he'd have to work harder.

In truth Casey didn't look better, he looked worse. His stomach was starting to cave in and his ribs were starting to become visible. Except Casey didn't see that and he was going to carry on no matter the cost.

 **Thank you for reading, I'm not that happy with this so I hope it's okay, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you to guest, FrankElza, Fanfiction.79, guest, DramaComedySoapRealityFan, and LINA for reviewing, your support for this story means so much and I love reading your reviews :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorder if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 16:

The next day Brax sat at the kitchen table, laptop and notebook in front of him. He wanted to make a plan; a way to help Casey before they had to get the professionals involved. That was the last thing he wanted. So as he was the only one in the house (not by choice he had tried to stop Casey who had walked straight out the door) he thought he might as well get on with his plan now.

He opened up the laptop and went to website he was on yesterday, hoping to find some tips on there. He opened the notebook and grabbed his pen ready to do it. He knew that Casey had to start eating more and exercising less; if they could do that then the rest would be pretty easy. Although Brax wasn't sure if he was over thinking things. Could he really help Casey? He knew his little brother was stubborn there was no doubt about that but he also knew that this was their last chance; if it didn't work then the decision making was out of Brax's hands.

He started off with the basics, from the way things were looking Casey wasn't just going to go and get food for himself. So someone would have to make him the food and be with him while he ate it; Casey was going to hate that for sure.

The next one would be exercise. Casey exercised way too much and it was unhealthy. Brax thought about how he could limit Casey's exercise but he couldn't really think of anything apart from locking Casey in the house. However after the jumping out of the window incident Brax knew that wouldn't work.

Brax had to think of something Casey could do that wouldn't bore him but would also have him doing less exercise. He tapped his pen on the table as he thought, Casey could help him at the restaurant, it would keep him busy and Brax could keep an eye on him.

As Brax wrote that down, another idea came to mind. Someone could exercise with Casey, that way Casey could still do his his exercise but he wouldn't be exhausting himself out. That sounded like a good idea so he wrote it down as well.

He scrolled down the website noticing that one of the things it said was that encouragement was good. He read further and realised that it meant encouraging the person to eat and being consistent was good. He scrolled down further and saw that it talked a lot about listening. Listening to the person about their thoughts and feelings, taking the time to listen and not interrupting the person.

He wrote that down as well; anything to help Casey he was going to do. He scrolled down the website further reading the information and writing stuff down that looked important. 10 minutes later, Brax sat back in his chair a sighed, he was done and now all he had to do was tell the rest of the family. Brax loved a challenge.

The pain in Casey's chest just kept increasing the faster he ran. It confused him, Casey thought as he ran; he'd never really experienced pain when he was running. Th at meant he was unfit right?

Casey sighed and carried on running, telling himself that this would all be worth it in the end. Or would it? There was also something else on Casey's mind; Brax. His eldest brother had been acting weird was one way to put it. Something was off with him and Casey could sense it.

He wondered whether Heath or Kyle had noticed it too. Maybe Casey should talk to them. They'd want to know if something was up with Brax. Casey carries on running as he thought, letting his mind be a distraction from the pain and heat that was assaulting him. He was getting there, body image wise and he couldn't actually remember the last time he ate. Maybe it was...

"Woah you alright there Casey?" Nate asked as he helped steady Casey who had just ran straight into him. Casey looked up for a second, confused by what was going on around him. "Casey?" Nate questioned, this time more seriously.

"What?" Casey said before quickly adding on. "Yeah I'm fine." Nate frowned; Casey didn't look fine. "Are you sure?" Nate asked. "Yeah, just wasn't looking where I was going" Casey said, adding on a cheeky smile.

Nate nodded, not sure whether he believed Casey or not. "Anyways I gotta go", Casey said looking down at his watch, "don't wanna mess up my times." Nate smiled. "Yeah sure go on" Nate said, giving Casey a smile as the young man started running.

Nate watched as Casey ran. Something wasn't right, there was something going on except Nate just couldn't put his finger on it. He made a note to check in with Brax later; he might have more of an idea what was going on.

Brax had called everyone (bar Casey) round 15 minutes ago and could hear them arriving. "Hey" Ricky said as she walked through the door followed by Phoebe and Kyle. "Alright Brax?" Kyle asked. "Yeah mate, just sit down" Brax said to the three of them.

Next to walk in was Heath and Bianca. Bianca just smiled at Brax as she walked in, she had a feeling this was about what her, Heath and Brax had discussed yesterday. "What's this about big brother? Where's Casey?" Heath asked, as much as he wanted to, he hadn't forgot the conversation he was involved in yesterday.

"That's why we're here. Just sit down" Brax said firmly. "Brax, I'm not talking about-" Heath started but was soon cut off. "Heath just sit down!" Brax shouted, leaving no room for argument. Heath sighed but did as he was told.

Brax pulled up the chair he had previously been sitting on and turned to face the group. Then it struck him. How was he supposed to tell his family this? He took a deep breath shaking himself from that thought. He had to do this, for Casey.

"Brax?" Ricky asked, prompting Brax to start speaking. "Right yes so most of you may have noticed something up with Casey" Brax began and several people around the room nodded agreeing with him.

"I did some research and what I have concluded is that I think Casey may be suffering from an eating disorder, more specifically Body Dismorphic Disorder" Brax said. He watched as every face around the room processed what he had just said. Bianca just sat there with a sad smile while Heath had a constant frown on his face. He looked to Ricky who just shocked and sympathetic.

He then looked to Phoebe and Kyle before realising that he hadn't really informed them about any of this. Kyle just looked said but at the same the usual glimmer of hope in his eyes was still there. Phoebe looked the most shocked out of everyone.

"Are you sure?" Phoebe was the first to ask. "Of course I'm not; I'm not a doctor" Brax replied. "Then how do you know?" Heath asked. Brax turned to face his brother, careful not lose his temper.

"Because he is my brother; our brother. His current behaviour, eating and exercise patterns match BDD" Brax explained, a bit more forcefully than he intended. "So what do you have in mind?" Ricky asked. "What do you mean?" Brax asked, feeling the spotlight on him. "How do you plan to help him?" Ricky asked.

"Well that's why I've called you all here" Brax began. "From what I was reading,one of the most important things someone like Casey needs is a family. A family that gets along and can be supportive" Brax explained. Heath scoffed but looked away when Brax glared at him.

"I think we can do that. What else do you have in mind?" Kyle asked, he too was annoyed at Heath. Why couldn't Heath see what Casey was doing? Although, Kyle thought, Heath did have a very funny way of showing things.

"Well because it's obvious he won't eat I had a few ideas. First of all someone makes him some food then sits with him while he eats it" Brax explained. "Won't that be a bit weird?" Heath asked. "It will but as soon as Casey learns he needs to eat, the better."

"Secondly, when be exercises someone can exercise with him to make sure he doesn't push himself too far." Everyone around the room, except Heath, nodded understanding what Brax was saying.

"I think we can do that" Ricky said, looking round the room for any objections. She glared at Heath when it looked like he was going to say something but apart from that everyone seemed to agree.

"Right great. You can all get back to what you were doing and remember that this kicks in when Casey gets home" Brax said before everyone dispersed apart from Ricky who stopped by him.

"What are you doing to do if this doesn't work?" Ricky asked. "We get the professionals" Brax replied.

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Thank you so much to FrankElza, Guest, , Guest, LINA and guest for reviewing, your support means so much and thank you for sticking with this story :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorders and body image issues if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

 **Also I apologise for the delay, I'm on my holidays at the moment but I'm going to bore with excuses so I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

Chapter 17:

Kyle walked slowly back to the gym, his mind completely focused on Casey. He wasn't going to admit it out loud but he was worried, and scared for Casey. His younger brother's behaviour was just getting out of control.

Brax was obviously worried, but he was trying to hide it. Kyle could see it in his eyes. He knew why Brax wasn't getting the professionals involved just yet, because he knew what would happen.

Kyle realised that he'd actually stopped walking and was looking out over the sea. He just couldn't get Casey out of his head. He sighed, deciding that getting back to work and taking his mind off things would be best.

Unfortunately for Kyle, all ideas of taking his mind off things were crushed when he turned up at the gym and found Casey on the treadmill. Kyle sighed and made his way over to the reception desk and checked the register.

That's when he realised that Casey hadn't even signed in. What was wrong with him? Kyle knew he had to find out what time Casey came in and the only way to do that was to talk to him, so taking a deep breath, Kyle set off on his mission.

Casey was running, he was running and nothing was going to stop him. Not the pain in his stomach, not the fact that his legs were aching or that his whole body seemed to be drowning in sweat; nothing was going to make him stop.

"Hey Case" Kyle said as Casey continued running. "What do you want?" Casey asked, just wanting to run alone. "I just need to ask what time did you get here?" Kyle asked. "Why?" Casey spat. Kyle sighed, what was it the questions?

"It's just for the register; you didn't sign in" Kyle explained as Casey carries on running, his panting and gasping for breath almost dominating the conversation. "I forgot" Casey said as he gasped for breath.

Kyle looked down at the machine with concern and when he saw what speed setting Casey had on and how far he'd ran, Kyle's eyes widened. "I don't need an exact time, just roughly how long have you been here?" Kyle asked, trying a different approach.

"Don't know" Casey gritted out as upped the speed of the treadmill, causing him to run faster. Kyle looked down at the treadmill and saw that Casey has been on there for 35 minutes, which meant that if Casey hadn't been on anything else, then he'd been at the gym running for 35 minutes.

Kyle walked away from Casey, being able to sense Casey's anger. He went back to to the reception desk and typed into the computer that Casey had been there for 35 minutes; it was better than nothing.

Heath scuffed his feet as he walked down to the beach. He had decided that the best thing to do in this situation was to go for a surf. He made his way down to the waters edge. He stared out to sea, just wishing that the waves could wash away all of their problems.

He got on his board and went out to sea, constantly thinking about Casey. He felt more confused than worried and that's what worried him. Everyone else was worried about Casey, they were concerned about him but Heath just didn't seem to understand.

Did that make him a bad brother? If it did then Casey was screwed.

Kyle continued to watch on as Casey pushed himself even further, even though he was trying to distract himself. It had worked for 15 minutes when someone needed assistance on the weights but apart from that, his attention had been drawn to Casey.

Casey was running fast, really fast. Kyle could tell that he was sweating all over his body and if his breathing was anything to go by, he was seriously out of breath. Kyle was worried, he knew that the level of exercise wasn't healthy and if he knew it then Casey knew it too.

Kyle considered trying to stop Casey but he knew that would cause a scene; no one wanted that. He watched Casey and saw that he was just going to keep going without a care in the world.

Casey could hear his breath heaving about of his body. There was a pain in his chest and he was exhausted. Bush this was how Brax and Heath worked out right? Yeah course it was, therefore it Washington doing him any harm.

He looked down at the stats on the treadmill and saw that he had been running for almost an hour, maybe he should stop. But before he could think any further that little voice in his head made himself loud and clear.

 _Stop! Stop! No wonder you're so pathetic!_

Without needing to think anymore, Casey sped up, turning the speed of the treadmill right up. No pain no gain right? Yeah, Casey kept telling himself that. Suddenly he felt a growl of pain from his stomach and looked at it (or what was left of it).

He couldn't remember the last time he ate, but that didn't matter. He had to be strong, like his brothers. He was always to younger one, always the one that everyone thought couldn't defend himself, always the one that felt not second but third best. Yes, that's how he felt. This was his way of proving to everyone that he was a man; not a boy.

Kyle watched with increasing concern as Casey seemed to speed up. He could feel panic starting to rise within him; Casey has been running for an hour, he was going to end up doing some serious damage to himself.

Kyle knew that he couldn't stop Casey because Casey wouldn't listen to him, in fact Casey didn't listen to anyone these days. He supposed that he could go over and just ask Casey if he was planning on stopping, add some humour to the situation. Yeah, that would work.

"Hey Case, you planning on stopping?" Kyle asked in a light hearted way. Except Casey didn't see the humour in what Kyle had just asked, in fact he didn't even answer him. Kyle sighed, this was the reaction he feared getting. "Case, you're just going a bit fast, maybe slow down" Kyle said as Casey continued to ignore him.

Casey on the other hand wasn't ignoring Kyle to be rude, he was ignoring him because he had more important things to ignore. Like the voice and thoughts in his head! He was running so that he would be _normal_ because at the minute he wasn't quite there.

"Casey" a stern voice broke Casey out of his thoughts. "What!" Casey snapped, thoroughly sick of Kyle. "Are you going to stop?" Kyle asked, his patience baring thin. Casey shook his head. Kyle sighed. "Are you at least going to slow down?" Kyle asked.

Kyle waited for a reply but when he didn't receive one apart from Casey's ignorance, he gave up. Kyle walked away from Casey back to the reception desk, he grabbed his phone and called the one person he knew would not take no as answer from Casey.

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Thank you to FrankElza, LINA, , Bonnie Sveen Fan, Mrs Sugden, guest and beth for reviewing, your support for this story means so much and I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint :)**

 **Also I'm sorry for the delay in updating, I've recently had an operation on my right hand which has made writing quite hard :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of body image issues if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 18:

Brax had the day off from work so decided that after his discussion with the family about Casey, he should relax; take his mind of things. He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a beer before sitting down on the sofa.

He turned on the tv and found some trashy daytime tv show. Taking sip from his beer, Brax relaxed back into the sofa, letting his mind drift. However, as always, his thoughts always brought him back to his youngest brother.

Before he had any chance to think further, he felt a buzz in his jeans pocket. He sighed, putting his beer down on the coffee table and pulling out his phone. It was Kyle. What did he want?

"What can I do for you Kyle?" Brax answered the phone.

"Erm, Brax, you're gonna wanna get down to the gym" Kyle informed him.

"What, why?" Brax questioned, the words 'gym' and 'Casey' coming together in his mind.

"He won't stop, he just keeps running and I can't get him to stop!" Kyle exclaimed with worry creeping into his tone.

"Okay, okay. Just keep watching him, I'll be there in five" Brax said before ending the call, turning off the t.v. and darting out the door.

Brax sprinted through the small town, wanting to get to his little brother as soon as possible. What was Casey thinking? Kyle hadn't said how long Casey had been running but judging by the fact that Kyle had rang him, it was a long time.

He ran along past the beach, ignoring some of the weird looks people were giving him. He slowed down as he rounded the corner of the gym, calming himself down so he didn't look so flustered when dealing with whatever Casey had got himself into.

"What's happened?" Brax asked as he walked up to the reception desk where Kyle was, spotting Casey in the corner of his eye. "He won't come off the treadmill, he won't even slow down" Kyle said, sounding defeated.

"How long's he been on there?" Brax asked, looking at Casey he could tell the younger man was pushing himself too hard. "About an hour and 15 minutes; he hasn't stopped" Kyle informed him. Brax sighed. How was he supposed to handle this?

Casey kept running but he could see that Brax had arrived in the corner of his eye. How dare Kyle ring Brax! He knew Brax was going to make him stop. Well no one could _make_ him stop, but Brax going to try.

Thinking about this made Casey run faster, run faster as if that meant that Brax wouldn't catch him. Brax wasn't going to make him stop, no one was. Not even the strain he could feel in his body.

Brax watched as Casey's speed increased, desperate to just run over and grab his brother. "Brax are you listening?" Kyle asked, snapping Brax out of his thoughts. "What? Yeah" Brax replied.

"Anyways, as I was saying, when you get him off the machine he's going to need around half an hour to just calm down, get his breath back and get his heart rate back to normal" Kyle explained.

"Do you understand that?" Kyle asked. Brax looked at his brother and nodded. "Yeah" he replied. "Right, go and sort him out" Kyle said before going back to the computer, watching nervously at what Brax was about to do.

Brax took a deep breath, composing himself, before walking over to his brother. As he got nearer to Casey, it dawned on him just how sweaty and exhausted Casey looked. He walked over to he was stood in the exact same position as Kyle.

"Hey Case" Brax said, hoping to get a reply from him. However, to no surprise he didn't. "How long you been on this thing?" Brax asked, tapping the side of the treadmill and watching as he brother continued to run and ignore him.

For Casey's part, he just kept running. He knew Brax was there but he couldn't stop; he couldn't. He didn't even know how long he'd been running for, his body was just on autopilot. "Casey, you have to come off this thing" he heard Brax say sternly.

No! He couldn't stop! He had to keep going. Why didn't Brax understand that? Casey had to be like him; Brax wasn't a loser and pathetic, he was strong and respected. That's what's Casey had to be, that's what he would be once he's finished this 'lifestyle' he was currently leading.

Brax sighed; talking to Casey was getting him nowhere. His younger brother was too far in his one head the listen to Brax. He looked over to Kyle who was watching the situation with a worried gaze.

Brax looked around the gym, there was a few people but not that many. "Casey, please. This is the last time I'm going to ask you, can you please come off this machine" Brax asked, starting to lose his patience.

Brax waited for Casey to slow down and come off the machine, but that never happened. Brax sighed, he'd have to do this the hard way. "I warned you Case" Brax said before taking a deep breath.

"Brax what the- what the hell are you doing!" Casey exclaimed as Brax reached across and turned off the machine, bringing to a stop. Before Casey could start the treadmill up again, Brax took his bicep and lead him off the machine.

"Brax get off!" Casey shouted as he tried to break free from Brax's grip. Casey struggled as Brax lead him through the gym and out into the changing rooms. He released his grip on Casey's arm and waited for his younger brother's outburst to begin.

"What the hell did you do that for!" Casey shouted. "I was running! I was fine and you've ruined it!" Casey yelled as he placed back and forth. Brax folded his arms and waited for Casey to finish.

"Do you have any idea what you've done!" Casey screamed. He couldn't believe Brax! He was annoyed! He could feel the anger bubbling through his veins, his heart beating so fast he felt like it wasn't beating and he so badly wanted to punch Brax!

"Casey, just calm down" Brax said gently, knowing from experience that shouting at Casey who was shouting at you never worked. Brax watched as Casey paced back and forth, his mind drifted back to when he took Casey off the machine because there's one he just couldn't get out of his head.

Casey's arm. Casey's arm was so thin and when Brax gripped it, it felt like it weighed nothing. How far had he let Casey go. It worried him and now Casey was in this state over coming off a treadmill at the gym.

Brax was broken out of his thoughts by a scream coming from Casey. He looked up and saw that his brother was still pacing. Brax had to get him to stop soon otherwise Casey was never going to calm down.

"Right, Casey look at me" Brax said as he walked over towards his brother. "Casey, look at me!" Brax said firmly, snapping Casey out of his rant. "What" Casey spat when he came face to face with his older brother.

"Calm yourself down" Brax said, not breaking the eye contact he had with Casey. "Why?" Casey growled. "Because you're doing yourself no favours" Brax replied calmly, hoping Casey would calm down soon so they could just go home. "Take some deep breaths and then we can go home" Brax said.

Casey wanted to protest when Brax said about going home but decided that it wasn't worth it. He did as Brax told him and took some deep breaths. He eventually did calm down and then felt like an idiot for shouting at Brax.

"You calm now?" Brax asked. Casey nodded but wouldn't meet his older brother's eyes. "You ready to go home?" Brax asked. Casey nodded again and Brax figured that was the best he was going to get out of him.

"Let's go" Brax said. He put a hand on the back on Casey's neck and gently directed him out of the changing rooms. They passed Kyle on the way out who shot Brax a questioning look, Brax just shrugged his shoulders and carried on walking.

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Thank you to , Guest, Bonnie Sveen Fan, FrankElza, Beth, Fanfiction.79 and LINA for reviewing, your support for this story is beyond what I expected so thank you :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorder if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 19:

The walk home was awkward to say the least. Casey just wanted to run away, run away from his brother because he knew what would happen when they got home. He could feel Brax's glare on the back of his neck; he just wanted to get home and forget that the gym never happened.

Brax walked Casey home, trying to work out a plan in his head. He had no idea how to handle this. He knew Casey hadn't eaten recently so that was his priority, to get Casey to eat something, but then he had no idea how to go forwards. It worried him that this was the state Casey had got into; how much further would he go?

It didn't take long for the brothers to get home and the minute they did, Casey rushed off to his room. "What's up with him?" Heath asked. Brax sighed and collapsed down on the sofa. "Don't ask' Brax said as he reached across the coffee table and took a sip from his now warm beer.

"Is everything alright? Casey seemed quite upset" Ricky asked as she walked into the living room, having passed Casey in the hall. "That's what I've just asked him" Heath commented from his place in the kitchen.

"I don't know what to do with him" Brax said as he ran a hand through his hair. He stood up and walked over to Heath and Ricky. "With who?" Ricky asked. "Casey" Brax sighed. Heath scoffed. "What's the squirt done this time?"

Brax glared at Heath, no appreciating his so-called humour. "I've just had to go and drag Casey off the treadmill at the gym" Brax said. Ricky and Heath both frowned. "What! Why?" Ricky asked, clearly concerned.

"Because he wouldn't stop; Kyle was worried about him and quite frankly when I got there, I was too" Brax explained. "So what. The kid was just working out; building up some muscle, muscle that he needs" Heath said. "Heath! Did anything I said to you this morning sink in!" Brax yelled.

Casey paced his bedroom as he listened to the conversation going on. How could he be so stupid! He'd just embarrassed himself, shown that he wasn't able to run on a treadmill and obviously embarrassed his family.

That was when he heard Heath. Heath said he had to build up muscle. Even his own brother thought he wasn't good enough; proves that Casey was right all along. He felt sick now, someone else could see it, they could see what a disappointment he was; how useless he was.

Why did Brax even bother?

"Right, enough!" Ricky said sharply, she was sick of the arguing and also aware that Casey could probably here it. "You two arguing is doing no one good. Either you both shut up now or one of you leaves" Ricky explained.

Brax and Heath both glared at each other, silently egging the other one on to say something, but neither were that stupid. "Thank you" Ricky said. "Right then, when was the last time Casey ate?" Ricky asked as she moved towards the fridge.

"Erm I don't know" Brax replied, feeling awful. "Well, we'll make him some lunch. What do you reckon he would want?" Ricky asked. "I'm not entirely sure" Brax replied, again feeling awful. "Well why doesn't Heath go and ask him?" Ricky suggested.

Brax and Heath looked at each other. "I think it would be better if I just go" Brax said as he made his way towards Casey's bedroom door. "No!" Ricky shouted, "Heath will go." Heath sighed. "Why me?"

"Because you're going to be helping Casey and this is the first step" Ricky said, glaring at Heath. "Fine" Heath grumbled as he made his way towards Casey's door. "Nice one" Brax whispered to Ricky.

Casey sat down on his bed, trying to pull himself together. Today was just a blip, he can get back on track tomorrow, maybe even this afternoon. He had to get on track soon anyways, so that he could build up the muscle he lacked.

A knock on his door brought Casey out of his thoughts. "Case, it's Heath. Can I come in?" Casey froze. What did Heath want? Was he just going to tease Casey? Casey couldn't let him in, he couldn't!

"Case, are you in there?" Heath asked again. "Y-Yeah" Casey replied, his voice shaking. Heath opened the door and stuck his head round it. "Just wondering, what do you want for lunch?"

Casey felt sick. Lunch? Lunch! He didn't want lunch; he couldn't eat lunch. "I-I'm not that hungry, Heath" Casey said, avoiding eye contact with his older brother. He knew Heath was laughing at him.

"Are you sure? Ricky said she'd make you something" Heath pressed. "No, I'm fine" Casey replied, sounding more confident. "If you're sure" Heath said as he shut door, leaving Casey alone with his thoughts.

"What did he say?" Brax asked as Heath walked back into the kitchen. "He said he didn't want anything" Heath replied, sitting down and taking a bite out of the sandwich that Ricky had already made him.

"Right well Ricky make him a sandwich and I'll get him" Brax said as he walked out the kitchen. "He doesn't want anything!" Heath shouted. "He will!" Brax replied.

"Hey Case, Ricky's made your lunch" Brax said as he knocked on Casey's door. "I told Heath, I'm not hungry" Casey replied through the door. Brax wasn't having this. "No, come on, Ricky's made you lunch and you're going to eat it" Brax said as he opened the door and came face to face with Casey.

"Brax, I told Heath that I'm not hungry" Casey said again, impatience obvious in his tone. "No, Ricky's made you a sandwich that you will eat and if what happened this morning is anything to go by, you're not eating enough" Brax said firmly. Casey groaned, he hated how young Brax could make him feel.

"Come on, it's just a sandwich then you can back to sulking or whatever it is you're doing in here" Brax said, trying to not make a big deal out of things. Casey growled but followed his brother out to the kitchen where there was a sandwich waiting for him on the table.

He sat down opposite Heath and glared at the sandwich. Brax watched this take place and knew that Casey needed some space; he looked at Ricky and gestured over to the living room. They both made their way into the living room and sat down the sofa, meaning they weren't in the kitchen but Brax could still see Casey.

Casey glared at the sandwich. How did this happen? He shouldn't be here! He felt sick. He could sense Heath watching him and he hated it. He looked at the sandwich, it was ham which was alright, much better than cheese.

He wasn't even hungry. He looked in the living room to see where Brax was and discovered that while Brax wasn't in the room, he could clearly still see Casey. Great! Casey wasn't going to get out of this one.

He could feel his palms sweating, his heart was beating, and he could feel someone's eyes watching. He swallowed; he had to eat this. He had no choice. He looked up when he heard Heath moving and saw that his brother had finished and was dumping his plate in the sink.

Casey looked down at the sandwich again; it couldn't be that hard. He could his shaky hand and brought it up towards the sandwich. He heard Heath leave the kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief; there was no one exactly in the room with him.

He picked up one half of the sandwich and brought it towards his dry lips. He could do this. _No you can't._ He shook his head, trying to rid it of the thoughts. He quickly put the sandwich in his mouth and took a bite.

He chewed slowly, his mouth going dry and a wave of nausea passing through him. His throat was dry and he could feel sweat all over his body. He gulped down the piece of sandwich, his dry throat not helping in the slightest.

Brax sat watching the tv with Ricky, however his attention was constantly being drawn to Casey. It pained him to watch his brother struggle when eating a sandwich. He knew that this couldn't go on.

But Brax couldn't find it in himself to get Casey help. It wasn't that he didn't want to help Casey, he just didn't want to lose Casey's trust. He was scared. Scared about what would happen; he didn't want to lose his brother.

Casey had managed to finish one half of the sandwich. His heart was pounding; this wasn't right. His stomach felt kinda sick and like it didn't recognise the sandwich. He picked up the next half, knowing that the sooner he ate that the sooner he could burn it all off.

He looked down at his shaky hand holding the sandwich and took a deep breath. He took a bite and just chewed it, just chewed it. He swallowed it quickly, taking a deep breath before he took another bite and chewed it quickly.

His approach was just get it over as soon as possible. That meant chewing quickly and not thinking about it. He forced the last bite down and looked at the empty plate. The empty plate. He'd just eaten a sandwich.

He stood up and hurried to his room and shut the door, forgetting to lock the door. He felt his breathing quicken and his heart was pounding in his head. What had he done?

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Thank you to FrankElza, , beth and DramaComedySoapRealityFan for reviewing, your support for this story means so much and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

 **Also I apologise for the delay in updating, I've recently had my November exams and have been weighed down by revision and assignments :**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains self harm and eating disorders/body image, if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read.**

Chapter 20:

He stood up and hurried to his room and shut the door, forgetting to lock the door. He felt his breathing quicken and his heart was pounding in his head. What had he done

Brax sighed as he watched Casey run back to his room. No one should get so stressed over eating a sandwich, especially Casey who was probably the most laid back person he knew. He felt like crying as he stood up and went into the kitchen and put the empty plate in the bin.

"You okay?" Ricky asked, leaning against the wall. Brax leaned against the sink and looked out the window. "Yeah" he replied softly. "You know this is the first step" Ricky commented. "The first step to what?' Brax asked more forcefully than he should have.

"The first step to Casey's recovery. He needs you to be strong Brax, because he's going to need his big brother" Ricky explained. "You think?" Brax asked, turning round to face Ricky. "I know."

Casey paced his room, trying to calm his erratic heart rate. What the hell had he done! He felt sick, he was going to throw up, he was shaking; shivering. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't feel his legs. What was happening?

He stopped pacing and stood in front of his mirror, sweaty hands clutching his hair. How had this happened! He stared at his body, wanting to pull his top up but didn't want to reveal his stomach.

How disgusting it was. How abnormal it was. Reminding Casey of how stupid he'd been. He started pacing again, his breaths coming out in gasps as if someone had pressure on his neck. He felt his heart pound in his rib cage and was sure he was going die. He could hear his breathing get louder; what if someone heard?

 _Failure. Weird. Not good enough. You're got good enough._ The voices were getting louder, his heart was beating so fast Casey was sure it would just give up. He couldn't concentrate properly, he felt sick; his legs felt like they were about to go underneath him.

He stopped pacing and put his hands down on his bed to support himself. He looked in one direction and one direction only. His bedside table. He'd never considered doing it before now, it had never been needed. Until now.

He stumbled in that direction and opened the drawer. There sat the opened packet of razor blades. He stared at him them for what felt like forever. Then, he gathered up the strength and took a shaky hand, reaching into the drawer he took out a razor blade.

He held in his hand squeezed it, letting the sharpness of it be felt by his palm. He stared down at his hand for a moments, before gripping the blade between his fingers and bringing it up to his bicep.

With a shaky hand, erratic heart rate, a sweating forehead and trembling legs, Casey pushed the blade into his arm. He breathed a sigh of relief as he brought the blade across his arm, then made three more cuts underneath the one he had just done.

In that moment, all the voices stopped. The taunts and the insults stopped. Casey could breathe. He could see clearly. Everything slowed down around him; he felt the the pain ripping through the his arm and it felt good.

Casey dropped the blade and leaned against the wall. He knew what he'd just done was wrong but he could breathe now, and he could think clearly. Some blood trickled down his arm and he grabbed the old t-shirt under his bed from last time, to stop the bleeding.

He let his heart rate get back to normal and his breathing even out. He bent down and picked up the blade, putting it back in the opened packet and placing it back in the drawer. Looking down at his arm, he examined the cuts. They weren't that deep, they'd heal.

"Hey Heath, you got a second?" Brax asked, stopping Heath as he tried to leave. "What's up big bro?" Heath asked, knowing exactly what Brax was going to ask him about. "I need your help with something."

"What?" Heath asked. "I need you to help support Casey more" Brax said. Heath scoffed. "Brax, you know I'm no good at this caring brother thing." Brax sighed. "I know you're not, but I also know that you do actually care."

Heath looked down at the floor, not able to look Brax in the eyes. He hated feeling this awkward. "So what are asking me to do?" Heath asked. "Just support him, encourage him." Heath sighed. "And how do I do that?" Brax smiled. "Just follow my lead."

Heath shook his head before walking out the door. Brax smiled and turned back to the tv. He knew Heath would come round eventually, or in the end he might have no choice.

Casey had calmed down significantly since he cut and no he knew what he had to do next. Exercise. He began with press-ups, counting up to 50. He then turned over and did some sit-ups, again 50.

He then ran on the spot for a minute, did some star jumps for a minute and finally sole bench presses using his bed. He repeated this over and over again.

His mind raced as he exercised but he couldn't hear the thoughts. He wouldn't hear the thoughts. He'd worked too hard and no one could stop him now. Brax didn't understand why he had to do this.

Well Brax knew exactly why he had to do it. Casey moved onto sit-ups and continued to think. Brax could see exactly what Casey could see, he could. He just didn't have to the guts to tell Casey to his face.

And then there was Heath who Casey knew couldn't give a toss. Heath couldn't care less about Casey, and that was fine with him. He ran faster on the spot, knowing he needed to channel his feelings a little bit differently.

Brax couldn't concentrate on the tv show playing in front of him, instead he was thinking about Casey. He wanted to involve Casey more in things, maybe then he would open up more to him. But he had what he could do.

The only thing they could really do as family was exercise and surfing. They probably weren't the best things to do with Casey. He could ask Heath when he got back, after all he wanted Heath to be more supportive.

Heath kept realigning along the beach, allowing the sound of the waves to fill his head. It wasn't that he didn't want to support Casey. He did. But he didn't know how. Brax was always the one who'd help them, not him.

And in all honesty, he was scared. Scared because he knew nothing about what Casey was going through. He was scared that he'd say the the wrong thing and then Casey would backtrack or someone the progress he'd made.

He kept walking and then decided that he wasn't getting anywhere, instead he was just over thinking everything. He turned back and walked home, prepared for what Brax was going to annoy him about now.

Casey had been working out for half an hour. He had sweat running down his face and there was a slight pain in his chest, maybe his heart. But nevertheless he kept going, he had to; needed to.

"Hey Heath, I need to ask you something" Brax said as Heath walked back in the house. Heath sighed, guess he could predict the future. "Yeah what is it Brax?" He asked. Brax made his way through from the kitchen and stood in front of Heath.

"I'm thinking of involving Casey more with us" Brax states. "Okay? What does this have to do with me?" Heath asked, not really sure where Brax was going. "I was wondering if you had any ideas?" Brax asked.

"Why don't you just ask Casey?" Heath asked, thinking he was stating the obvious. Brax looked at Heath and smiled. Then everything clicked in place for Heath. "Oh Brax come on!" Heath exclaimed, realising what Brax was saying.

"Go on" Brax said, still pushing his idea. Heath sighed. "Is this what you mean by more supportive?" Heath asked. "Part of it", Brax replied. "Now go."

Casey stopped and stood in front of his mirror, sweat running down his face and his breathing fast. He took a few deep breaths and then took his top of. He stared at his body. He ran his hands over his ribs, they were visible and his stomach was flat; but it still wasn't good enough.

Heath sighed as walked down the hall to Casey's room. He stopped in front of Casey's door, all sense of knocking forgotten, and walked in. "Casey, Brax was wondering- Casey!" Heath exclaimed, staring at his younger brother's thin form.

"Heath!"

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Thank you so much to FrankElza, , Bonnie Sveen Fan, Beth, Sara and LINA for reviewing, your support means so much and the fact that this story has over 100 reviews has just blown me away :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of eating disorders and body image issues, if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read.**

Chapter 21:

Heath sighed as walked down the hall to Casey's room. He stopped in front of Casey's door, all sense of knocking forgotten, and walked in. "Casey, Brax was wondering- Casey!" Heath exclaimed, staring at his younger brother's thin form.

"Heath!"

Casey grabbed his top off his bed. He couldn't breath. Heath was staring at him in disgust. His disgusting younger brother. But he had seen. He had seen everything. He was going to tell Brax and ruin his progress all because he was stupid enough to not lock his door.

Heath felt his heart pound in his chest. Casey. He chest. It was so thin. How was his brother like this. This was the Casey he knew. He felt sick. Was his brother really this ill? How had he not seen this.

"Get out" Casey whispered, anger evident in his tone. Heath just stood there and stared at him. _He's looking at your disgusting body._ Casey shook his head, trying to rid himself of the voice in his head.

"Casey?" Heath questioned quietly. Heath watched as unshed tears glazed over Casey's eyes. "Get out!" Casey hissed but Heath didn't move.

"What's going on in there?' Heath and Casey heard Brax's voice, coming closer towards them. "Get. Out." Casey hissed for the third and final time. Heath got the message this time and without saying anything of a goodbye, left Casey's room and shut the door.

Casey gripped his hair and yanked hard. He let the tears and collapsed down on the floor, leaning against his bed. What had he done?

Heath walked back through to the living room; his heart was still pounding in his chest. "Heath, what happened?' Brax asked, already standing and facing his brother. He noticed Heath looked pale and like he had been breathing heavily.

"Did you two have a fight?" Brax asked. Heath shook his head, willing the words to come out of his mouth. "Heath, you look ill. Sit down, are you okay?" Ricky asked as she stood up next to Brax.

Heath nodded and moved round the couple to sit down in the armchair. "What happened in there?" Brax asked as he and Ricky sat down on the sofa. Heath looked down at his hands, trying to figure out what he's going to say.

"Heath. What happened?" Brax said firmly. He was worried now, worried for Heath and Casey. "He's so ill" Heath said, still avoiding eye contact with Brax or Ricky. "What do you mean, Heath?" Ricky asked. Heath was slightly scaring her now.

Heath took a deep breath and told himself this was for Casey. "He looks so ill" Heath said again. "We know that Heath. What about Casey?' Brax asked, trying not to loose his patience.

"I walked in there and he didn't have his top on. His skin is so rough and his body is so thin" Heath said. "How thin is thin?" Brax asked, his eyes displaying no emotion. "Very thin. His ribs were sticking out and he's got virtually no muscle, it's just flat."

Casey sat on his floor and cried. He was so stupid! So obvious. Heath had seen. He had seen. All because he hadn't locked the door!

Brax was going to find out. He was going to find out and take it all away. He would stop Casey; Casey knew he would. He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let that happen. He'd worked too hard to give up.

He stood up and walked back in front of the mirror. The only positive he could take from this was the fact that he at least looked better. Obviously doing all that exercise after the sandwich had worked.

Brax and Ricky tried to process what Heath was telling them, but they were struggling. Brax was trying to wrap his head around how Heath had described Casey. What he really that thin?

Ricky could understand more of what Heath was saying and she wasn't as surprised as Brax. She'd expected it in a way. Casey had just been on a downwards spiral recently and she knew that sooner or later there would be nothing, they as a family, could do.

But then she also knew that Brax was scared; terrified. He was terrified of what would happen if they did get Casey help. She understand that to an extent; Casey was like her younger brother.

"So what your Casey is he's basically skeletal?" Brax asked, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Yeah" Heath replied quietly. Brax sighed. What was he supposed to do now?

"Brax, I know you've not going to like it but maybe-" Ricky began however she was interrupted. "No!" Brax said firmly. "I'm not going to subject him to the professionals yet."

Ricky sighed; she knew this would be the reaction. Brax was just scared; he was scared losing control over something he'd been trying so hard to control. It pained her to watch, because as Casey suffered, Brax and now Heath were going to suffer with him.

"So what do you think we should do then?" Ricky asked, looking at both brothers.

Casey was still standing in front of the mirror, trying to come up with a plan. He could try and go out for run later on that day, but he was pretty sure Brax would do anything to stop him.

That meant he just had to stay in his room. He'd just stay here until tomorrow morning, when he'd go out on his run and get back on track without Brax or anyone else interfering. That would work and then no one would feel the need to worry about him.

Brax sighed. He had an idea, another one, but he had to persuade Heath and Ricky to do it. "I suggest we clamp down harder." Ricky sighed. "How much harder are you going to clamp down before you realise that this is out of your hands?' Ricky asked, not caring if she sounded blunt.

"I'm not giving up on him yet" Brax said, avoiding making eye contact with either Ricky or Heath. "My guess is that getting him help from the professionals is not actually giving up" Heath said. Ricky and Brax both stared at Heath, both utterly shocked that something so logical came out of his mouth.

"I know that" Brax began. "But getting him professional help means that I have failed him.' Ricky sighed. "Getting him help isn't you failing him though" she tried to reason. "It's you doing what's best for him."

Casey began to continue with his push ups, deciding that he couldn't just stand around for the rest of the day. He'd already locked his door and checked it three times, meaning there was no chance of someone just barging in.

He still couldn't get what had happened out of his head. Even while he tried to distract himself by doing push ups; it was the only thing on his mind. Heath had seen! And he's probably telling Brax and Ricky everything right that moment.

He increased the intensity of his push ups, wanting to push any thoughts of Heath out of his head. All he had to do was focus on his progress and making more of it. That's all that mattered.

"So here's what we're going to do" Brax said firmly, refusing to back down on his idea. "We're going to clamp down hard and make sure that he doesn't do any more damage to himself."

Heath and Ricky both sighed but knew that there no point in arguing with Brax because he just wouldn't listen. Ricky knew it wasn't because Brax was being ignorant, but it was because he was scared of losing Casey.

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **I hope all my readers had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Thank you to Beth, FrankElza, LINA, Guest, Bonnie Sveen Fan and for reviewing, your support for this story means so much :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorders and body image issues if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 22:

Casey groaned as the light filtered through his curtains, waking him up from what was probably his best nights sleep in ages. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed when he remembered the previous days events.

How could he have been so stupid! He knew that today was going to be awkward and tense but Casey already had a plan. He was going to go to the gym and spend the rest of the day avoiding his brothers at all costs.

He rolled over and looked at the clock. It read 6:30. Casey sighed. He wanted to leave early before Brax and the others woke up however the gym didn't open until 8. If he got up now and Brax heard, he'd have no way of avoiding his older brother.

Casey then had the idea that he could stay in his room until 10am and when anyone knocked just pretend to be asleep. That way they would all be caught up doing their own thing that they would fail to notice Casey leaving his room and the house.

Of course he had the problem of Kyle who worked at the gym but Casey knew that with some lies he'd be able to get Kyle off his back. Until then Casey decided that he was just going to relax until maybe 7, then he'd get up and make some more progress.

In the other room, someone else lay awake as the light filtered through their curtains. Brax. Brax had been awake since 5am after not being able to sleep because the only thing on his mind was Casey.

He was scared. Scared because he had no idea what the future would hold. He used to be confident when looking towards the future but now the idea of making it through to next week seems an impossibility.

He sighed and looked to Ricky who was lying peacefully by his side. She'd constantly spoke about getting Casey professional help but Brax didn't know if he could do that. He wanted to deal with on their own; as a family, just like they had always done.

However today was a new day and Brax fully intended to move on from what happened yesterday. They could Casey to eat this morning, even if it's just a protein bar, then Casey wouldn't go to the gym unless Heath was going then Casey could tag along with him.

Brax rolled over and saw that it was only 6:40am. He'd get up at 7 then he could be ready for when Casey woke. He knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so he just let his thoughts wander.

At 7:00am Casey heard someone moving in the room next to him. He knew it was Brax and decided that he should get started. He gently got out of bed and stared at himself in the mirror.

He lifted up his shirt and checked his torso. It was looking good and he knew that it was only a matter of time before he looked like Brax and Heath. He ran a hand over his jaw line and smiled; it was more defined and the skin wasn't as red.

In fact his skin all around his body wasn't as red. Casey knew this was a good thing, in fact his skin looked more pale; like Brax's. That was good and that was all Casey wanted. His brothers looked perfect. Why couldn't he?

Brax finished having his shower and made his way into the kitchen. He rifled through the cupboards for something to eat, satisfied when he found some granola. He then looked in the next cupboard and found some bread.

It was just a usual routine that whoever was up first, when they were making their breakfast they'd also make stacks of toast. This meant that whoever was in a rush could just grab some; Brax was proud he'd came up with the idea.

"Morning" Kyle said as he merged from the hallway. "Morning" Brax replied, eating a spoonful of his granola as he waited for the toast. "Casey not up?" Kyle asked, as he grabbed a mug and poured some coffee Brax had been kind enough to make.

"Don't think so" Brax replied as he buttered the now toasted bread. "You at the gym today?" Brax asked. "Yeah, I start at nine" Kyle replied. Brax nodded as he finished his granola, pleaded at least one of his brothers didn't need worrying about.

Casey sighed as he finished yet another round of sit ups, wincing at the pain in his stomach. He stood up and looked at the clock. It was now 9:00am meaning he was going to go out in an hour.

He'd already seen Kyle leave and knew he was off to the gym. Hopefully he wouldn't say anything when Casey turned up. He stood back in front of the mirror and examined his sweaty body.

 _Disgusting._ Casey shook his head as the voice he had been dreading returned. He sighed and looked at his legs; they still didn't look right. _Pathetic._ Casey felt tears burn his eyes but he refused to let them fall.

He was making progress that's what counts. He wasn't weak and would refuse to be seen weak. He knew Brax looked at him that way. And Heath. Especially Heath. He needed to prove to them that he wasn't weak and that's what he was going to do.

"Morning" Heath said as he entered the Braxton house. "Morning" Brax replied as he cleared away to dishes from breakfast. "Casey not been down yet?" Heath asked, noticing the two slices of toast still left on the table.

"Not yet no, I think he's just exhausted from yesterday" Brax explained. "Doesn't surprise me" Heath replied, joining Brax in the kitchen. "Where's Kyle?" Heath asked. "At the gym" Brax replied.

"What working?" Heath asked. "I thought this was his day off." Brax sighed. "Maybe he just loves his job." Heath smirked. "Or he's trying to escape this place, don't blame him either way."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Brax asked. "Nothing, just this place isn't exactly home sweet home at the moment" Heath replied. "Yeah well we're working on it" Brax replied.

Heath looked at the clock. "Well, I need to get going" he said as he began to walk towards the door. "Where you off?" Brax asked. "Town" Heath replied. "Town?" Brax replied, sounding amused.

"Why are you going to town?" Brax asked. "Get some things for Bianca" Heath replied. "Oh perfect husband now are we?" Brax asked. Heath laughed before walking out the door.

"Who was that?' Ricky asked. "Just Heath. You look beautiful" Brax said, walking towards Ricky and wrapping her in a big hug. "What's this for?" Ricky asked. "Just because I love you" Brax replied.

"That's good, I'd be worried if you didn't" Ricky replied, getting a smile out of Brax. "Case not up yet?" Ricky asked, like Heath noticing the toast still left on the table. "Nope, haven't heard from him all morning. Although the same could be said about you."

Ricky laughed. "I was just enjoying the bed to myself." Brax laughed. "I take up too much room then?" Ricky chuckled. "No I just love to spread myself out."

Brax smiled. "You got anything planned for today?" Ricky shook her head. "No, I don't think so. What about you?' Ricky asked. "Stay here and look out for Casey" Brax replied. "What would those boys do without you?" "God knows" Brax replied.

Casey looked at his clock and saw that it was pushing on for 9:45am. He was going to leave at 10, so he'd have to start getting ready if he was going to leave on time. He looked in the mirror one last time, before going to have shower, figuring he needed one.

Sighing as the cool water ran down his body, Casey let his thoughts wander. They wandered to yesterday. Casey still couldn't believe how stupid he had been; he had forgotten to lock the door.

Heath saw. His life was over. Well that's what he told himself at the time. But he knew that if he didn't mention it and carried on as 'normal', Heath wouldn't mention it. He ran his his hand over his forearm and smiled when he felt the scars.

He was in control; that's what mattered.

Casey was dressed in his gym gear when he walked out into the hall. He could hear voices coming from the kitchen and knew exactly who it was. Brax and Ricky. But at least no Heath. He walked quietly down the hall and into the living room; if he could just make it to the door-

"Case, I wondered when we see you" Brax said as he stopped his youngest brother in the living room. "Yeah" Casey said, half heartedly. "Where you off then?" Brax asked, noticing his brother in his gym gear.

"Just off for a walk, this house is getting a bit stuffy" Casey replied, looking down at the floor. "Yeah, there's some toast waiting for you in the kitchen" Brax said and immediately noticed the change in his brother's body language.

"I'm not really hungry Brax" Casey replied, just wanting to get out the door. "You sure?" Brax questioned. "Yeah, it's probably cold anyways" Casey said. "Well, I could make you some new toast if you wanted" Brax suggested.

"How many times Brax, I'm not hungry!" Casey said, more forcefully than be intended. Brax sighed, he had a feeling this would happen. "Casey, you need something to eat before you go out" Brax pushed.

Casey sighed, this was not how he planned his morning to go. "Brax, I'm just gonna grab something when I'm out" Casey replied as he turned towards the door to leave.

"But you're not though are you Casey?" Ricky asked as came and stood next to Brax. "And for the last time, I'm not hungry" Casey hissed, ignoring the burning sensation on his forearm. "It doesn't matter, you still need to eat" Ricky pressed.

"And I'm not hungry!" Casey shouted. "Woah, woah. Just calm down. We're only trying to help you" Brax said, keeping a lid on his temper as he knew it wouldn't help the situation. "I don't need your help!' Casey shouted back.

Before Brax or Ricky could say anything else, Casey turned round and bolted out the door.

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Thank you to Bonnie Sveen Fan, Molly, and FrankElza for reviewing, I love reading your comments and I'm grateful for your support of this story :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of eating disorders and references to self harm if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 23:

Brax sighed as Casey ran out the door. Great job Brax! He turned round to look at Ricky who looked just as exhausted as he was. He was only trying to help his brother; that's all he'd ever tried to do.

"Where would he go?" Ricky asked. Brax thought, knowing Casey he probably would just go for a wander. "He's probably just gone to clear his head" Brax said as he walked over to the table and took the toast to dump it in the bin.

Ricky sighed as she watched Brax. Things were getting out of control now and they couldn't go on like this. It wasn't just bad for Casey's health but everyone else's. "What are you going to do Brax?" Ricky asked as her husband joined her in the living room.

"What do you mean?" Brax asked. "About Casey?" Ricky reminded him. Brax sighed. Truth be told he had no idea what he was going to do next. He needed time to think and process everything but with Casey constantly causing him stress and worry he didn't have time.

"I know Ricky, I know" Brax replied, not quite sure what to say. "I'm worried Brax" Ricky stated. "You don't think I am!" Brax exclaimed, slightly louder than intended. "Then do something" Ricky replied.

"Casey is like a brother to me and I can't stand to watch him do this to himself" Ricky said. Brax didn't know what to say. He'd never been good at explaining his feelings. "I'm going out" Brax said as he walked towards the door. "Where?" Ricky asked. "To find my younger brother" Brax replied as he slammed the door.

Ricky sighed as she watched the door slam. She sat down on the sofa and sighed. How had they gotten in this situation? What was really going on inside Casey's head? It worried her; deeply worried her.

Brax charged down the street, feelings too many different emotions to be able to single one out. He was angry, scared, upset, worried, guilty and ashamed. Ashamed because he had let Casey get himself into whatever the situation they were in was turning out to be.

All he wanted to do was help. Have them sort this out as family, just like they had always done. They'd never needed anyone else, they'd always been able to sort things out on their own. What was so different now?

He kept searching from left to right, hoping for just one sight of his youngest brother. His mind was racing as he thought of places Casey would have gone. He might have gone for a run but Brax knew that Casey wouldn't have the energy to get far.

This made him worry even more. If Casey didn't have the energy then he could have collapsed somewhere none of them would find him. No he couldn't think like that; he had to think logically.

Where would Casey go? Where would he go? Brax ran a hand through his hair. That was it. That's exactly where he would go. Brax turned round and sprinted back home after realising he didn't have his phone.

Ricky jumped as the front door barged open and Brax through the house. "What's wrong?" Ricky asked as she stood up from the sofa. "I need to ring Kyle" Brax said as he grabbed his phone from where it was charging.

"Why?" Ricky asked. "Casey" Brax replied as he put the phone to his ear, praying that Kyle would answer.

Kyle sat the reception desk at the gym, bored out of his skull. It'd been a quiet morning, only a few people coming in. He was tempted to start working out himself however his phone ringing brought him out of his thoughts.

"Hello?" Kyle answered.

"Kyle listen mate, has Casey turned up?" Brax asked, worry evident in his tone.

"No. Why?" Kyle asked, not sure why Brax was panicking so much. That last thing Kyle knew, Casey was still in bed.

"He's ran out the house and I don't know where he's gone. But I need you to do me a favour" Brax told him.

"Yeah what?" Kyle asked.

"If Casey turns up at the gym, do not let him exercise" Brax said firmly.

"Why not?" Kyle asked.

"Because he doesn't have the energy. Please if he turns up just promise me you won't let him exercise" Brax pleaded.

"Yeah, I promise" Kyle replied.

"Thank you" Brax said.

"No problem" Kyle replied, before hanging up as he heard the beep as the call was ended.

"So you think Casey's gone to the gym?" Ricky asked as Brax put the phone down. "I don't know but I figured it's likely" Brax replied, taking a deep breath to calm himself after a rushed five minutes.

"What are you going to do if Casey turns up at the gym?" Ricky asked, still concerned. "I don't know" Brax sighed. "What is Kyle going to do if Casey turns up at the gym?" Ricky asked. "He won't let Casey exercise, if that's what you're worried about" Brax said.

"I'm not worried about Casey exercising" Ricky stated. "Then what are you worried about?" Brax frowned. "How is Kyle going to handle Casey?" Ricky asked. Brax looked at her and sighed. "I'm sure he'll find a way."

Kyle sighed as he put the phone down. What was going on with Casey? Kyle was worried about his younger brother; he wasn't himself and he hadn't been for a few weeks. He was also worried about how Brax expected him to stop Casey.

Yes Kyle could fight, but he didn't have the same strength or authority that Brax or even Heath had over Casey. Casey wouldn't listen to her and Kyle couldn't stop him. Casey was stubborn at the best of times.

If Casey had his heart set on exercise, Kyle knew he wouldn't let anyone or anything stop him.

Casey sighed as he watched the waves roll in and out. He'd found a secluded area of the dunes that was tucked away from the rest of the beach. It was perfect. No one could see him, but he was able to check for other people. He could also watch the bustle of the beach and the tide coming in and out.

It helped him think. Helped him to process his thoughts. Casey had always found the beach calming, ever since a young age when Brax would take him and Heath down to escape their dad.

Brax. The man who had always looked out for him and Heath. The man who always had his back, always defended him and looked out for him. Obviously because Casey was too weak to do so himself.

Heath. The spitting double of Brax, but he didn't need Brax to defend him. Heath could do that perfectly fine on his own.

That's what Brax failed to understand. Casey was doing 'this' so he could be like Brax and Heath. He wanted to be strong and better. Instead of weak and pathetic like he always had been.

He looked at Brax and Heath and was ashamed. He looked nothing like them; he was a disappointment. _That's right. You're pathetic._ The voice. The voice that had haunted Casey for weeks.

It wouldn't leave him alone and Casey was losing control. He ran a hand over his forearm which was covered by his t-shirt. No he was control. This was a prime example. The voice was just telling him something he already knew.

He needed to do something, something that wasn't just sitting around and thinking. He could go for a run but there was a chance he'd bump into somebody and he couldn't be dealing with that.

The gym seemed to be his only option. He knew that Kyle would be there however he couldn't do anything apart from call Brax. That was settled then. Casey carefully looked over the dune, checking that no one he knew was watching him.

When he was satisfied, he stood up, having to steady himself when he felt light headed. Casey turned and made his way over the dunes, in the direction of the gym.

Kyle was busy rearranging the weights when someone he was expecting, walked in. No surprise it was Casey. Kyle took a deep breath, placing the last weight on the rack before turning to face Casey.

"Alright Kyle?" Casey greeted as his older brother turned to face him. "Alright Case?" Kyle replied, figuring this was the easiest route to take. "What do you doing here?" Kyle asked, knowing he'd promised Brax that he wouldn't let Casey exercise.

"Just to do some exercise you know" Casey replied. Kyle sighed. "Casey I can't let you do that" Kyle said, deciding to just be straight up blunt. "Why not Kyle?" Casey asked, mocking evident in his tone.

"Because you don't have the energy" Kyle replied, really not wanting to have a confrontation with his brother. "What do you mean?" Casey asked as he walked around Kyle to try and get closer to the treadmill. Kyle however, caught on to this.

"You're just skin and bones Casey, you're in no state to exercise" Kyle said, using all of his strength to keep calm. "Are you calling me weak?" Casey asked. _You're weak. He's calling you weak._

"No, I'm saying that you're unwell" Kyle replied. "Kyle just let me on the treadmill" Casey instructed. He tried to make his way round Kyle but a hand on his chest stopped him. "No" Kyle said, looking Casey dead in the eyes.

"Let me on the treadmill!" Casey demanded. He tried to push last Kyle however found himself being pushed backwards. Casey scowled and did the only thing he could think of. He swung his fist.

"Ahh!" Kyle exclaimed as Casey's right fist collided with his cheek. "Casey!" Kyle shouted as he looked up to find his younger brother running away.

Casey sprinted out of the gym. Not quite believing what he had just done.

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **I know many of you are wondering when Nate is going to get involved and all I can say is in the next few chapters time is running out for Casey**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Thank you to FrankElza, SuperGuardianNinja, , LINA and Beth for reviewing, I love hearing your feedback :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of eating disorders and body image issues if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

 **Also I apologise for the slight delay in updating, I've been catching up on school work as I have some mock exams in a few weeks, i will still try to update as often as I can :)**

Chapter 24:

"Ahh!" Kyle exclaimed as Casey's right fist collided with his cheek. "Casey!" Kyle shouted as he looked up to find his younger brother running away.

Casey sprinted out of the gym. Not quite believing what he had just done.

Kyle clutched his jaw, taking a camping breath, trying to figure out what had just happened in past few minutes. Casey had just hit him. Kyle was expecting Casey to react but never in all the time Kyle had known Casey, had he used violence.

Once Kyle had recovered from the shock, he set about trying to work out where Casey had gone. He wouldn't go home, Kyle knew that, but Kyle knew he'd probably have to be the one who breaks it Brax what has happened.

Kyle looked around the gym and saw that there was only two people currently working out. He decided as soon as they were finished, he'd close up early and go and see Brax to explain what happened and to try and find Casey.

Casey ran as fast as his weak legs would carry him. He could feel his chest heaving as he worked his heart and lungs. He never stopped and paid no attention to what was going on around him.

He ran in the direction the beach, he mind suddenly made up about where he wanted to go. He sprinted faster and could feel his muscles rebelling against the harsh exercise. But still be carried on.

Casey skidded round a corner and crashed into his little secluded area. He lay back and started panting heavily. Casey closed his eyes and tried to get breathing back under control. It took a few minutes but Casey managed it; now he was just left with a burning feeling in his chest.

He took a deep breath and felt his eyes water. What the hell had he just done? He'd just punched Kyle. He'd just punched Kyle, that's what he'd done. He looked down at his shaky hand and saw that his knuckles were beginning to bruise.

He didn't know why he was so disappointed, it's not like he could hide it from Brax anyways. Kyle would tell him, that's for sure. Casey knew he'd let them down, all of them, as usual and this time he would be ready for the grilling Heath was going to give him.

Casey just couldn't get his head around what he had done. He'd just someone. Not only that it was Kyle, one of his brothers. He never hit people, so what had changed?

As Casey looked back, it was like he couldn't even remember what had happened. Everything was a blur and Casey just felt pure rage and anger; the first person he could take it out on was Kyle, so that's what he did.

Looking back on it, Casey realised just how he embarrassing he probably looked. You're right you know. Such a disappointment. Casey felt the years prick his eyes and blinked to make them go.

The voice was right. The voice was always right. Casey was stupid and pathetic, why would anyone want him? _Because no one does want you._ Casey nodded his head in agreement. How had things got this messed up?

Casey looked down at his body. He still wasn't good enough. Nothing about him looked right. Nothing about him looked like Heath or Brax no matter how much working out he did.

Little did Casey know he looked nothing like Heath or Brax because his body was slowly shutting down.

Kyle said his goodbyes to the final gym customer and shut the door, putting up the closed sign. He made his way back behind the desk and sighed. What the hell was going with his brother? He sat down and ran a hand through his hair. Casey was making himself physically and mentally sick; it was obvious.

Every time Kyle saw Casey, his heart broke. He was so weak and fragile. It wasn't fair and Kyle was worried that someday Casey would push his body too far and it wouldn't be able to cope. Kyle would never forgive himself if that happened.

Kyle looked up at the clock and realised he should probably get home if he wanted to speak to Brax and the others before Casey got home. He stood up and went to his locker to take out his bag before leaving the gym and locking the door behind him.

Kyle quickly made his way home and barged through the front door. He dumped his bag down on the floor and walked through to the kitchen where he realised everyone was. "Hey mate we- what happened?" Heath asked, noticing Kyle's black eye.

Kyle mentally kicked himself for walking in an forgetting about his black eye. Any hope he now had of protecting Casey had just gone out the window. "Here let me get you some ice" Bianca said as she moved to the freezer.

"Kyle who did this to you?" Brax asked, concerned for his brother. "No one" Kyle said as he nodded his thanks to Bianca as she gave him some ice. "You don't get a black eye like that from no one" Ricky said, she had a feeling she knew who did this.

"So I'll ask you again. Who did this to you?" Brax asked, wanting to find out for real this time. Kyle looked down at the floor, considering whether or not he should drop Casey in it. "Kyle mate, who was it? Because I swear when I get my hands-"

"It was Casey" Kyle said quickly, interrupting Heath's little rant. "Casey?" Bianca questioned. "What? How? When?" Brax asked, not quite believing what he was hearing. "He's got a good right hook" Heath joked, however the glare from Brax told him that no one found this funny.

"What happened?" Ricky asked, wanting to get to the bottom of it. "Casey turned up at the gym, I said he couldn't use the treadmill, he got angry and then he hit me" Kyle explained. "As simple as that?" Brax asked, wanting make sure there wasn't more to the story.

"Simple as that" Kyle clarified as he enjoyed the relief the ice pack gave him. "I can't believe Casey would do that" Brax said as he ran a hand across his face. "I can" Ricky said. "What do you mean?" Brax asked, not quite getting where Ricky was coming from.

"You've seen how he's been acting recently Brax and I don't know how much longer I can stand back and watch" Ricky said, looking Brax right in the eyes. "What's that supposed to mean? Stand back and watch what?" Brax asked, he could feel the anger and frustration building up in his chest.

"Stand back and watch Casey kill himself!" Ricky said forcefully, feeling her patience wearing thin. "Casey's not going end up killing himself!" Brax shouted, refusing to believe what Ricky was saying.

"Oh yes he is Brax and you need to open your eyes to see that!" Ricky shouted, her patience snapping. Bianca, Heath and Kyle stood back watching the argument unfold. All of them wanting make an excuse to leave but not wanting to miss anything that was said.

"Right" Brax said, taking a deep breath. "We're going to go and look for Casey." Ricky sighed but didn't say anything. "Bianca and Heath you two can look around the beach area, see if he's somewhere down there and remember to look in the dunes" Brax instructed.

Bianca and Heath both nodded in understanding and made their towards the front door. "Ricky and Kyle you two search the town, see if he's down at the surf club or hiding in some cafe" Brax explained.

"What about you?" Ricky asked. "I'm going to stay here and see if he comes back" Brax said. Ricky nodded before following the others out the door, leaving Brax alone.

Brax sighed and made his way over to the sofa. He sat down and buried his face in his hands. And he cried. As much as he didn't want to, he cried. He cried for Casey, his younger brother; probably the most important person in the world to him.

He cried because he was losing control of the situation and he was terrified of losing his youngest brother. He cried because Casey wouldn't listen to him and there was nothing else he could think to do.

He cried because life wasn't fair and why did Casey have to through this? He cried because he couldn't work out where things had gone, he couldn't fix this and he can normally fix everything.

He cried because Casey was in pain and his little brother couldn't see that and he hadn't came to Brax to make it all better.

And he cried because well, can't a man cry sometimes?

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	25. Chapter 25

**Thank you to , LINA, Bonnie Sveen Fan and FrankElza for reviewing, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of eating disorders and self harm if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 25:

Heath and Bianca walked the path to the beach, both of them processing recent events. Heath was being unusually quiet and Bianca knew that he was struggling to accept what was happening to Casey, despite the jokes he made.

"Heath?" Bianca asked. "Yeah?" Heath questioned, snapping out of his trance. "What do you think?" Bianca asked, mentally kicking herself the minute the words left her mouth. What a stupid thing to ask.

"Think about what?" Heath asked, even though he knew exactly what Bianca was talking about. "Don't act like you don't know" Bianca said, not in the mood for one of Heath's games. Heath sighed and stopped at the end of the path, jumping up to sit on the fence.

Bianca joined him and they watched the waves. "You want the truth B?" Heath asked. "That would be nice, yes" Bianca replied, sarcasm evident in her tone. "I really don't know how to feel about Casey" Heath admitted.

Bianca nodded, she knew Heath had never been good with emotions. "I know but it's important that you have feelings about what's happening as well, Casey isn't just Brax's little brother, he's yours too."

Heath listened to Bianca's words and he knew that she was right. He needed to start opening his eyes, just like Ricky had said. "I know B, I know. Which is why I'm going to try and help Brax out a bit more" Heath told her.

"I love you" Bianca sais, resting her head and Heath's shoulder. Heath put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead. "I love you too B."

Casey sat there, playing in the sand with a little stick he'd found. Well, it wasn't really what you would define as playing. He'd found it and was now angrily running it through the sand.

His life was a mess.

He had no idea what Kyle had actually done, although he was pretty sure he'd gone to Brax. Brax. Another one of his problems. He never wanted to go home. He couldn't face Brax after what he'd done.

But would Brax want to face him?

Casey felt tears prick his eyes. Brax. What if Brax was too ashamed. What if he was too embarrassed to call Casey his brother. _Oh he already is. Why do you think he hasn't come out to find you._

Casey scrunched his eyes up. Willing the voice and tears to go away. He felt so exhausted and so drained. Why didn't anyone tell him it was going to be this hard? But that wouldn't stop him. He needed to do this, to look like Brax. Because maybe then he wouldn't feel so ashamed and embarrassed to call Casey his brother.

Brax was still sat on the sofa, staring at the turned off tv in front of him. He felt numb and he felt exhausted. Casey had taken every single bit of strength he had and still they hadn't managed to fix anything. In fact he had just gotten worse.

He sighed and stood up, stretching out his back. Deciding that he needed to do something to take his mind off Casey. He looked into the kitchen and saw that no one had done the washing up. Perfect.

He started the washing up, trying to do anything but think about Casey. But he was unsuccessful. It's all he could think about. Whether he wanted to or not.

The washing up didn't take him long and soon enough Brax found himself with once again, nothing to do. Nothing to do except worry about Casey.

He wanted to go out and look, however knew that if Casey was to come home, he needed to be there for him.

"Where do you think he'll have gone?' Kyle asked Ricky, hiding the tremble in his voice. "I honestly have no idea" Ricky replied as they searched the streets. She still felt bad for shouting at Brax, however she knew he needed to hear it.

"How you holding up?" Ricky asked Kyle. She knew he was still shaken up by earlier events. "I'm fine, I'm just mainly worried about Casey" Kyle admitted. He just still couldn't believe that Casey had punched him.

"It was his eyes" Kyle said. Ricky frowned. "His eyes?" Kyle nodded. "Yeah, Casey's eyes when he punched me. They weren't full of anger, they were full of fear" Kyle explained, hoping Ricky would understand where he was coming from.

Ricky listened to what Kyle was saying and felt her heart break a little. Casey was still so young and still so vulnerable; it wasn't fair. "Come on, we need to find him."

"Do you think we should get to work finding Casey?" Bianca asked, noticing they'd been sitting on the fence for quite sometime. "I'm quite enjoying just sitting here" Heath admitted. Bianca lifted her head from Heath's shoulder and glared at him. "But I do think we need to find Casey.'

Bianca smiled as she jumped down from the fence, closely followed by Heath. "So where should we look then?" Heath asked, wanting Bianca to take the lead. "I think we should split up" Bianca told him.

"Why would we do that?" Heath asked. "So we have a better chance of finding him" Bianca said. The reluctant look on Heath's face told her everything. "Listen if we both haven't found him in an hour, we'll meet back here, okay?" Bianca suggested. "Okay" Heath replied, kissing Bianca before walking away in the opposite direction.

Bianca smiled as Heath walked away before turning around herself and walking off to find Casey. She tried to think where Casey would go. She knew for a fact it wouldn't be anywhere out in the open, Casey wasn't that much of a public person.

Which meant he must be in the dunes; hiding.

Bianca trekked through the hills, ignoring the sand that was slowly building up in her shoes. She knew that if they didn't find Casey now Brax would end up calling the police, which would end badly for all involved.

Bianca was about to give up and look in the other direction when she saw a tuft of brown hair. She moved closer and saw that the hair belonged to a figure laying down in the sand. She ran towards the figure, the worst case scenario immediately running through her head.

"Casey!" Bianca shouted as she jumped down into the ditch.

"Bianca?" Casey asked, shocked to see her. "Casey! Oh thank god" Bianca exclaimed, sitting down next to Casey. "Bianca what are you doing here?" Casey asked, utterly confused. "I came to find you and I succeeded" Bianca said.

She looked Casey up and down, and couldn't quite believe how bad he had got. Casey looked awful. He looked frail, weak, exhausted and annoyed. The bags under his eyes looked like he'd been punched and his clothes hung off him.

"What's going on with you Case?" Bianca asked, noticing Casey's red and bloodshot eyes. He'd definitely been crying. "Nothing" Casey replied, keeping his guard up. "Why did you punch Kyle?" Bianca asked, feeling like she could get somewhere with Casey.

"He got in the way" Casey told her, finding the sand remotely more interesting than Bianca. "In the way of what?" Bianca asked, as far as she was concerned Kyle was just doing his job. "Everything" Casey replied.

Before Bianca could reply, she noticed something on Casey's arm. As Casey raised his hand to brush it through his hair, the sleeve of his t-shirt moved up to reveal small, angry red lines on his forearm.

What the hell had Casey done?

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Thank you to FrankElza, SuperGuardianNinja, Beth, Angel2021, and S.H for reviewing, your support for this story honestly means so much :)**

 **Would also like to apologise for the delay in updating, I've recently had exams at school which have had to take priority**

 **Would also like to point out updates may be a bit slow however I fully intend on finishing this story and showing Casey's journey :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of eating disorders and self harm if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 26:

What the hell had Casey done?

Bianca doesn't know what to do. She'd never been faced with a situation like this and doesn't want to say anything in case it makes it worse. Should she confront Casey? Ask him about it now? Should she wait until they get home? Speak to Brax and the others? But then may be Casey will do it again.

"Look why don't we go back home?" Bianca suggested, seeing it as the best option. "No" Casey replied as he shook his head. He could not go home. "Why not Case?' Bianca asked, trying to pull her eyes away from Casey's upper arm.

"Because I can't" Casey replied, focusing intently on the sea and the crashing of the waves. "There's no one stopping you" Bianca said, trying to desperately to stay calm knowing that was the best chance she had of getting through to Casey.

Casey sighed, Bianca was starting to irritate him now and he wasn't sure how much longer he could put up with her questions. But he knew he couldn't run away. If he ran again, he'd only it bump into another member of his family; a one more irritating than Bianca.

In the silence Bianca remembered she hadn't actually told the others she'd found Casey. She pulled out her phone and tested Brax. Letting him know she'd found Casey, that he was okay and that she was going to try and persuade him to come home.

"I think you should come home with me Case" Bianca said, ignoring the fact Casey was becoming more irritated by the second.."I don't" Casey replied, keeping his replies short and quick, hoping Bianca wounded reply. He was wrong.

Bianca realised that she wasn't getting anywhere with Casey and decided to take a different approach. "Casey, do you like having people worry about?" Bianca asked. Casey frowned. "Obviously not" Casey replied, as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Then why don't you come home, we're all out looking for you; worried about you. If you come back we won't be worried about you" Bianca said, telling a slight lie as they were always worried about Casey at the moment.

Casey thought about it and couldn't make up his mind. Part of him wanted to go home. He was exhausted, confused and everything seemed a bit of a blur to him; he needed a chance to think everything through, but his thoughts were travelling too fast.

He felt like he was on a train, got off at the wrong station and was running to catch up with the train; the train full of his thoughts. _Weak. Pathetic._ There it was again, a voice so small but so powerful.

He felt tears prick his eyes but refused to let them fall. He wouldn't cry in front of Bianca. He wasn't going to prove them right. But who were they? Casey didn't know, but they controlled his every move.

"Casey?" Bianca questioned, breaking his train of thought. Now he'd definitely fell off the wagon. "What?" Casey asked. "Are you going to come home now or am I going to have get Heath, you've just ignored me for the last five minutes."

Wait Bianca was talking? He was so lost he didn't even hear Bianca talk. "Are you going to come home with me, or am I going to have to get Heath?" Bianca asked, this time Casey noticed, much sterner.

Casey didn't really know what happened next. He must've nodded and then followed Bianca out of the dunes and off the beach because the next thing he knew, they were meeting Heath a couple of blocks away from the house.

"Where the hell have you been!" Heath shouted as he approached the two. Bianca immediately stepped in front of Casey, telling Heath to calm down, it wasn't going to help anyone if he was angry. "Let's just get home."

Brax was sat calmly at the kitchen table when the text came through that they'd found Casey. He felt all the tension drain from his body and then the anger at what happened replace it. He couldn't even remember the last time Casey had eaten. What kind of brother was he?

He decided he needed to be calm when Casey got home; one of them had to be.

Casey silently followed Heath and Bianca up the drive and to the front door. Suddenly, he didn't feel like it was a good idea and wanted to turn round and run, but he couldn't. "Come on then" Bianca said as she followed Heath in and Casey followed.

The silence that followed in the living room of the Braxton household was one where awkward was an understatement. The four of of them stood and looked at each other, everyone waiting for the other person to say something.

Casey decided eventually that he was bored and went to make a move to his room. "Where you going?" Brax asked, blocking Casey's path to his bedroom. "To my room" Casey replied. "No you're not" Brax said, not breaking eye contact.

"Yes I am" Casey replied. "No you're not. Sit down" Brax said firmly. Casey stared into Brax's eyes, waiting for him to give out. But he didn't. "Sit down" Brax said again. "Why?" Casey challenged. "Because I don't trust you."

That struck a nerve with Casey. He stated at Brax for a few more seconds before giving out and going to sit down. "You can sit there for the rest of the day" Brax said. "What!" Casey exclaimed, turning round to face Brax.

"In case you haven't noticed, you've been gone most of the day anyways!" Brax shouted. Casey silenced and turned to face the tv, turning it on, deciding he might as well try and enjoy himself.

Casey felt like he'd been sat on the sofa for days. In reality it was just hours. Ricky and Kyle had already arrived home and Casey couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction when he saw Kyle's blsck eye; he deserved it.

Brax had tried to get him to eat something, but Casey had obviously refused. He needed to look like Brax, therefore if Brax couldn't see that he was blind. If he gave in he was weak, pathetic, he wasn't going to prove them right.

Brax felt like he was at his wits end. He had no energy left the deal with Casey and he felt rid of all emotion. He looked at his thin, frail and blind to what he was doing to himself. He knew they couldn't go on like this and it was only going to be a matter before the straw that broke the camel's back would be pulled.

"Brax can I speak to you for a second?" Bianca asked, breaking Brax from his thoughts. "Yeah" Brax replied, knowing exactly who this was about. "Is there a chance you can get Casey to clear off to his room, I need to speak to everyone."

"Yeah" Brax replied, moving through to the living room to speak to Casey. "Clear off to your room Case" Brax said. Casey didn't need to be told twice and practically bolted off the sofa and into his room as fast as his frail body would carry him.

"What's wrong?" Heath asked as he walked in through the door seeing Casey speeding off to his room. "Bianca needs to speak to us" Brax said. "Where are Ricky and Kyle?" Heath asked. "They're in the garden, Bianca's gone to get them" Brax said.

That moment Bianca came back in followed by Ricky and Kyle. Judging by Kyle's eye you could see why he didn't want to be in the same room as Casey. Everyone sat down in the living room before looking towards Bianca.

"Right you're gonna have to promise not to kick off immediately, when I tell you this, you need to be calm and rational" Bianca explained. Everyone nodded cautiously, all of them just wanting to find out what Bianca was going to tell them.

"When I was talking to Casey down in the dunes, I noticed something" Bianca said. "What was it?" Brax asked, everyone listening intently. "Casey has red lines, scars I mean, along his upper arm."

"He has what?"

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter when as many of you will be pleased to hear, Nate finally gets involved :)**


	27. Chapter 27

**Thank you to , Bonnie Sveen Fan, Beth, FrankElza and S.H for reviewing, I am very grateful for your support with this story :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of eating disorders and self harming if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 27:

"He has what?"

Brax stared at Bianca, waiting for an answer as he felt the air being sucked out of his lungs. Casey self harming? He wouldn't would he? He couldn't. "Bianca what do you mean?" Brax asked.

"I mean I think he's been self harming" Bianca said, fully expecting this reaction from Brax. She looked around at the other faces in the room and realised she would receive many different reactions across the afternoon.

Heath looked angry; really angry. She didn't blame him though. He'd found this Casey and eating disorders thing hard to understand, never mind throwing in the fact his younger brother had been self harming.

Ricky looked sympathetic, but not shocked, like Bianca thought she would be. Almost as if she had been expecting this revelation or she'd just prepared herself for the fact that it would be a possibility. Bianca knew out of all the family, she would understand the best.

Kyle looked shocked, which wasn't surprising as he seemed to have been thrown in the deep end with this family and all their problems. Bianca also noted he looked lost, like what they were dealing with was way beyond anything he ever expected.

Then there was Brax who if you took a picture of him there and then, a picture paints a thousand words would be the perfect description. He looked sad, angry, sympathetic and guilty all in one. However guilt seemed to stand out and Bianca knew why.

"Self harm?" Heath questioned calmly, it was evident it was taking all his self restraint not to lash out and shout. Bianca sighed, she supposed they deserved to know what she thought. "I think, now I could be wrong, but I think Casey has been self harming as a way to cope with his eating disorder."

"Undiagnosed eating disorder" Brax pointed out.

"Oh come off it Brax, we all know he has one; even you. The sooner he's checked out the better" Ricky said firmly, not really in the mood to play Brax's games of waiting for the problem to resolve itself.

"What would you know about eating disorders, eh Ricky?" Brax questioned, he too using all his self restraint not to lash out. "Stop it both of you!" Bianca shouted, bringing their bickering to an end.

"You two arguing isn't going to help anyone, never mind Casey" Bianca said firmly, making sure she didn't raise her voice in case Casey heard their conversation. "So what is going to help Casey then?" Kyle asked, speaking up for the first time in their conversation.

Bianca sighed and looked up at Brax. She could it in his eyes. Telling her no. But they had no choice; this was the on it way Casey was ever going to better. "Get him professional help" Bianca said, making sure she wasn't looking at Brax.

"No" Brax said quickly. "Brax" Ricky said, the exhaustion evident in her tone. "What?" Brax questioned, he felt like he was losing this battle and clinging onto the anything that could keep in control

"We can't keep doing this" Ricky said, aware everyone was watching them but needing to get out what she'd been feeling. "Doing what?" Brax asked, he too aware everyone was watching them but too caught up in his own feelings to care.

"Pretending like nothing is happening, that everything is alright, meanwhile Casey slows kills himself" Ricky snapped and she didn't miss how Brax flinched at what she said. "Casey isn't killing himself" Brax muttered more for his own reassurance than anyone else's.

"What is he doing then, Brax?" Ricky asked and was met with silence. Brax sighed and ran his hand through his hair. What was he supposed to say now? Truth was Brax had no idea what Casey was doing, but he wished he did.

"Look there is no point in arguing now, we all need to pull together and help Casey otherwise he's got no chance" Bianca said, trying to take back control of the situation seeming as Ricky and Brax had proved they couldn't.

"So how are we going to help him?" Kyle asked again, not wanting to feel like he was being ignored. "We confront him. Now" Heath said as he began to move towards the hallway however a hand on his arm pulled him back.

He turned around to find Bianca gripping his arm. "Don't you care confront him" she said, glaring Heath in the eyes. "Why not?" Heath questioned. "Because it will make things a hundred times worse and none of us are prepared to risk that" Bianca explained, keeping her voice low and meaningful.

Heath sighed and pulled his arm from Bianca grip, before moving back to where he stood. "Seeming as you seem to know everything, why don't you tell us what we're going to do?" Heath questioned Bianca, the frustration that had been building up inside finally being released.

"We're gonna get him professional help so tomorrow morning two of us are going to go and speak to Nate" Bianca said. "No" Brax said defiantly. "Definitely not." Bianca and Ricky exchanged exhausted looks across the room, silently deciding to team up so they could make Brax see sense.

They both knew that once Brax saw the clear picture, Heath would follow his older brother's lead.

"Do you want Casey to get better?" Bianca asked. "Of course I do" Brax replied, sounding offended that Bianca thought he didn't. "Then professional help is the best option for him" Ricky said, moving to stand by Brax's side.

"We've tried to help him and done everything we can, but it isn't working and Casey won't except our help." Brax sighed, starting to listen to Ricky and Bianca; realising he wasn't going to win his side of the battle.

"What are you supposed to tell Nate though?" Kyle asked, jumping into the conversation, wanting to feel like he was helping. "The truth" Bianca said, glaring at Heath. "What?" Heath questioned, then the realisation hit him.

"I'm not going to speak to Nate" Heath said. "Oh yes you are" Bianca said. "And Brax" Ricky added. "Excuse me?" Brax questioned. "You and Heath are going to speak to Nate tomorrow morning" Bianca informed him.

"I'm not so sure about that" Brax said, trying to hide the fact he was genuinely terrified to admit that Casey was actually ill. "It's the only way we're going get Casey on the road to recovery, me and Bianca could do it if you like" Ricky suggested.

"No way" Brax replied. "Then man up and take responsibility for your little brother's health" Ricky snapped, making sure her she didn't raise her voice. Brax sighed and looked over at Heath who shrugged, obviously feeling uncomfortable that the conversation had got so deep and personal.

"So are you two both gonna go or are me and Ricky?" Bianca asked, finally feeling like she was getting somewhere. "Me and Heath are obviously going to go" Brax said. "What?" Heath questioned.

"Me and you are going to speak to Nate tomorrow morning" Brax informed him, telling himself that it would be worth it. "Is that sorted then?" Kyle asked. "I think so" Bianca sighed, pleased they had got somewhere but frustrated that it had taken so long.

"Good" Kyle said, before moving towards the door and leaving the house. "Where's he off to?" Heath asked. "A walk probably, I don't blame him after the fuss you two have caused" Ricky said, before she too left the living room and went into her bedroom.

Brax sighed and look at Bianca to see if she had anything she wanted to say. "Look we're done here, as long as you two" she said pointing to Heath as well, "understand that this is what's best for Casey. He's going to fight you and deny it but you both have to be strong and look past that. Look for the brother you once knew and you'll find that he isn't there any more, it's just someone pressing self destruct."

Bianca was met with silence as Heath and Brax both processed what she had said. "It's getting late, me and Heath need to get ourselves home, we'll see you tomorrow alright" Bianca said as herself and Heath made their way towards the door.

A mere nod from Brax was they needed as they bid their farewells and left the house, leaving Brax by himself in the living room. Brax sighed and collapsed down onto the sofa. How had things got this bad?

He knew deep down Casey had changed but couldn't bring himself to believe it. His happy and cheeky little brother was now depressed, angry and miserable; a horrible person to be around and truth was Brax blamed himself.

He should have seen it coming and he didn't; so now he had to make an effort to change things.

 **So next chapter Nate gets involved**

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	28. Chapter 28

**Thank you to and FrankElza for reviewing, your support means so much and thank you for your patience while i wrote this chapter :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorders and mentions of self harm if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 28:

Casey could tell something was up from the minute he sat foot outside his bedroom. He could hear voices wide awake in the kitchen and for 8am on a Wednesday morning this wasn't normal.

It also wasn't routine and this upset Casey the most.

He was supposed to go for a workout now before anyone was awake enough to realise but now he couldn't. He turned around and walked back into his room, trying to rationalise things in his head but it wasn't working.

He couldn't go out for his run. He couldn't go and work out.

He started pacing and rubbing the back of his neck; it was soothing and for some reason Casey liked the burning sensation on his skin. He could feel his heart rate pick up at the panic of not being able to go out.

 _Pathetic. Can't even go out for a run. What's Brax going to think of you now. Weak. Fat. Look at the state of you._

Casey felt the tears well up his eyes and willed himself not to let them fall. He wasn't going to prove the voice right. But the truth was he was weak, and pathetic, and he was the only person who could do something about that. He knew his was a disappointment but the least he could do was try and be strong like Brax.

He took some deep breaths as the rubbing on his neck intensified. He needed to get out and he needed to workout. Clear his head, feel good. Look good. He felt down over his t-shirt and smiled at the progress he'd made.

He walked over to his mirror and pulled up his t-shirt, revealing the thin and sickly body he had hiding under there. He was proud of it, he was getting stronger. But it wasn't good enough and he didn't need the voice in his head to tell him that.

He took a deep breath and pulled his t-shirt back down before making his way over to his door. He wasn't going to let anyone get in his way.

"Heath will you just relax" Brax insisted for what must have been the fifth time that morning. Heath hadn't stopped shaking his legs and was nervously eating toast, tearing pieces off the slice before eating them.

"I am relaxed" Heath defended, even though he knew that Brax could see through his lies. "What time do we need to be there for?" Heath asked. "We'll get there for nine, then we can ask when would be the best time to speak to him."

Heath nodded at what Brax said, before getting up from the table and making his way in the direction of the bathroom for a shower. On his way through, he bumped into Casey.

"Woah, morning Case" Heath said as he nearly collided with his brother. "You alright?" Heath asked, noticing Casey looked a million miles away, as well as his usual pals skin and frail body.

Casey looked up when he heard Heath's voice and registered what he said. "Y-Yeah" Casey replied, hating the way he stuttered and his voice shook. "You sure?" Heath asked, feeling as though Casey would collapse on him any second.

Casey cleared his throat. "Yeah" he replied, this time more confidently. Heath offered him a small smile before walking round him and going into the bathroom.

Casey breathed a sigh of relief, knowing now he only had one brother to get past. He walked though the hallway and entered the living room, immediately spotting Brax tidying up in the kitchen.

He also spotted a plate of toast on the table.

"Morning Case, you alright?" Brax greeted. Casey nodded but couldn't bring his eyes away from the plate of toast. It was still hot, white bread and Casey could see how it had been coated in butter, just the way Brax and Heath both made their toast. It was also the way that Casey hated it.

"Case, there's a plate of toast there for you" Brax pointed out and Casey couldn't take it anymore. He bolted out the front door, ignoring Brax's attempts to get him to come back.

"Casey! Casey! Wait!" Brax screamed as he ran after Casey, trying to catch up with his younger brother. But he couldn't. Brax had to watch him run off and it made him even more determined to speak to Nate.

Brax fan back in the house and picked up his keys. "Heath! Come on, we're going now!" Brax shouted as Heath emerged from the bathroom in just a towel. "I thought we weren't going til nine?" Heath asked.

"Well we're going now. Get dressed" Brax instructed. Heath did as his brother said, sensing arguing with Brax when he was in that mood was a bad idea.

"Where's Casey gone?" Heath asked as he exited his room, fully dressed, a few minutes later. "He's run off so we're going to see Nate now" Brax explained.

Casey kept on running all the way to beach and found his little cave in the dunes. He collapsed down into it and felt his chest strain at the deep breaths he was taking. He lay back against the sand and let the world carry on around him.

Brax hurried through the entrance to the hospital and made his way over to the reception desk, all the while Heath trying to keep up with him followed from behind.

"Hello, I'd like to speak to Dr. Nate Cooper" Brax said. "I'm sorry but you're going to need an appointment" the receptionist replied. "Well we don't have an appointment do we, but we need to see him now" Brax replied, his voice straining as he tried to stay calm.

"Look, we just need to speak to him. It's urgent. He's a family friend and we're worried about someone" Heath tried, hoping the receptionist would listen to him. The receptionist sighed but before she had a chance to say anything, the man of the moment came round the corner.

"Everything alright?" Nate asked as he placed some files down on the desk. "No, these two men are demanding to see you and won't leave" the receptionist cleared up. "Brax, Heath. What can I help you with?" Nate asked.

"Look we need to speak with you urgently, it's about Casey" Brax told him. Normally Nate would tell people to get an appointment but by the look in Brax's eyes, Nate knew he couldn't ignore this.

"Follow me" Nate said as he turned around and walked back through the hospital, Brax and Heath closely following him. "I don't normally do this, but I can tell something is seriously wrong" Nate explained.

"Well thank you for this" Brax said they followed Nate into his office. "Take a seat, we've probably got around ten minutes before I'll be needed on the wards" Nate said as Brax and Heath took a seat.

"What can I help you with?" Nate asked. Heath looked nervously around the room but Brax knew he had to man up.

"Recently Casey has been worrying us. He's been working out a lot more, eating and drinking barely nothing, he doesn't listen to us, exercises until he's completely exhausted, he's just skin and bones, weak, pale, and we think he may have been s-self harming."

Nate took in everything Brax said and knew they had a problem. Casey sounded seriously ill and Nate knew from treating previous patients the problem that it would only get worse if no one intervened.

"Right, I just want to start off by saying you've done the right thing by coming to see me because now it means we can get Casey the help he needs with the support of his family" Nate explained.

"What's next then?" Heath asked, speaking up for the first time. "If it's okay with you I would like to see Casey for myself tomorrow, so I can assess him for myself and then write up a report that can get him help" Nate said.

"What's this report for?" Brax asked. "The report will be what I send off to our Young Adults Mental Health team stating just how ill Casey is and what level of urgency he requires help" Nate explained.

Brax and Heath both nodded, wrapping their heads around what they were being told. Casey was ill. Casey was seriously ill and for the first time, Brax felt he had done the right thing by coming to get help.

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed and I'm sorry for the delay in updating, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	29. Chapter 29

**Thank you to FrankElza, S.H, and Bonnie Sveen Fan I love hearing your views and thoughts on each chapter :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of eating disorders if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read it**

Chapter 29:

Heath sighed as he watched Casey walk out the house, slamming the door as he did so. "What happened to keeping him here so we know he'll be around for his appointment?" Brax asked as he entered the kitchen.

"Well obviously I'm not as good at this as you" Heath grumbled, not in the mood to deal with any of his brothers today. "What's gotten you all worked up?" Brax asked, sensing his brother's annoyance.

"Nothing" Heath replied, moving over to the fridge to take out a beer. "Bit early for that don't you think? It's only 10am" Brax asked. "I think I deserve it" Heath replied, walking through to the living room and sitting down on the sofa. "And why's that?" Brax asked, sitting down next to him.

"Casey" was all Heath said before he opened his can and took a big drink. "Yeah, you don't have to get me started on that one" Brax sighed, he too was starting to feel the pressure of the last few days.

"And he's supposed to have a hospital appointment today but he just runs off" Heath said, feeling the frustration beginning to build up inside him. "He'll be back in time, don't worry" Brax told him.

"How do you know that?" Heath asked. "He left his phone on charge in his room, no doubt he'll need it and will come back for it" Brax explained and Heath could see the logic behind it. "Except what time does Nate want Casey at the hospital?" Heath asked, not wanting to keep them waiting all day.

"I text him earlier and he said any time between 11 and 4, which gives us plenty of time" Brax said. "And what are going to do if he refuses to come?" Heath asked. "I haven't got that far; hopefully we won't."

Casey walked down on to the beach, not having the energy to run which was frustrating him. He always had the energy to run. And he should have energy to run especially after last night when Brax had made him eat two slices of toast.

He'd felt sick to his stomach and knew he had to burn it off today.

That's what Brax would do. If he ate too much of something or something unhealthy he'd burn it off the next day. That's all Casey was doing so there was nothing wrong. He felt again over his stomach and could feel his ribs and the thinness of his body, but it didn't satisfy him.

He wasn't good enough. Nothing about him was good enough. _Useless. Weak. Pathetic._ Casey could feel the tears well up in his eyes and willed them not to fall. He'd never get his body _right_ so what was the point in even trying.

He sat down in his little cave and went to pull out his phone before he realised he didn't have it. However looking for his phone brought his attention to his lower legs which were on show as he was wearing shorts.

He felt sick. They looked wrong. Really wrong.

He sighed and tried to push that thought to the back of his mind and focus on finding his phone. He checked in both his shorts pockets and felt in the pockets of his hoodie and still couldn't find it. He sighed and tried to think where he'd last had it.

Then he remembered and his breath got caught in his throat. He'd left it on charge. That meant he'd have to go home. But he didn't want to go home. He couldn't go home. They'd end up keeping him there. They'd see how useless he was and that he wasn't worth it.

But he needed his phone. _They'll make you eat._ He took a deep breath, willing himself to ignore the voice. He sighed and realised he needed his phone.

So he heaved himself up from the sand he was sitting on, stopping suddenly as his world spun, before staggering away and making his back home.

Casey quietly opened the door, peaking his head into the living room, checking to see if anyone was there. Thankfully there wasn't but he could hear voices coming from the kitchen. Tiptoeing through the living room, Casey silently made his way out into hall without being seen.

"Who was that?" Heath asked as he heard the front door open. "It'll probably be Casey, but don't pounce on him just yet, we'll wait until he comes back through" Brax explained, knowing that barging in his room and confronting him was the worst thing they could do.

Heath nodded, happy to take Brax's lead on things as his patience was wearing thin. He sighed and waited for Casey to reappear, knowing that no matter how they approached him it would still end in a confrontation.

They could hear Casey's bedroom door open again and Brax began walking forwards into the living room, making sure he'd be able to catch Casey before he left again.

Casey quickly unplugged his phone and made his way back out his room and into the hall. He began again to walk quietly down the hall and back into the living room. However he stopped dead when he came face to face with Brax.

"Case, mate, can we talk for a minute?" Brax asked, trying to keep his voice steady. "About what?" Casey asked, he too trying to keep his voice steady. "Look Case, Nate wants to talk to you today at the hospital" Brax told him calmly.

At the mention of 'hospital' Casey's already pale face paled even more to the point Brax thought he was going to pass out. "No, I'm not going" Casey said, his voice shaking and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Yes you are mate, so if your ready we're gonna go now" Brax told him. "No I'm not" Casey said this time more defiantly. "Yes you are" Brax replied, this time not willing to compromise with his brother.

Casey sighed and couldfeel the panic building up inside of him. He needed to get out. He wouldn't be able to leave. Where else could he go? Back to his room. Before anyone could say anything else, Casey bolted back to his room and locked the door.

"Casey!" Brax yelled, watching as his brother sprinted away from him. "Great plan Brax. Great plan" Heath mocked. "I'm not giving up yet, Kyle will be home soon anyways and he can help" Brax said, making his towards Casey's room.

"Case, mate, open up. I just wanna talk to you" Brax said as he knocked on the door. He was met with silence which didn't surprise him. "Case, please" Brax begged, knocking again on the door, knowing if Casey didn't open up now he'd need to call for help.

Heath could feel the frustration building up inside of him. He didn't have the patience or the will to deal with his brother. He watched as Brax stood there waiting. Why was he waiting? He should be doing something about this.

"Right Casey, if you don't open this door I'm gonna break it down!" Heath yelled, pushing Brax out the way. "Heath what the hell are you doing?" Brax demanded, pushing Heath back away from the door.

"He's not listening when you take the side approach and I've had enough!" Heath yelled. Brax sighed, this was the last thing they needed. "Heath just go and sit in the living room and let me deal with this" Brax told him calmly.

"But-" Heath protested. "Go to the living room!" Brax shouted, ending their argument there.

Casey paced his room; with every step the panic rising within him. They wanted him to go to hospital! Hospital! No hospital would ever be able to help him. No hospital would take him.

Too ugly. Too pathetic. Wrong. Not normal.

 _They've given up on you. They think you're worthless. Not good enough._

He clamped his hands down over his head, almost trying to push the thoughts out of his mind. He could hear an argument happening outside and knew he was the cause. They were arguing because of him.

He was to blame, for everything, and the thoughts wouldn't stop.

Brax sighed and rest his head against Casey's door. He wasn't opening up and Brax was running out of options. He considered trying to break down the door but knew that would badly for all involved.

He pulled out his phone and made the phone call he really didn't want to make.

Heath was pulled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. He got up and opened the door, not expecting who was on the other side.

"I came as soon as I could" Nate said as he entered the house. "Where's Casey's room?" Nate asked. "Through there" Heath replied as he pointed towards the hall, still trying to understand why Nate had turned up.

This meant it must be serious.

"Hey mate, I'm sorry to have called you out of work" Brax greeted and Nate noted he looked stressed. "No don't worry about, it's clear something is seriously wrong and I want to help" Nate reassured. "Now run me through the situation quickly."

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	30. Chapter 30

**Thank you to FrankElza, S.H, Bonnie Sveen Fan, Beth and for reviewing, I love reading all your thoughts and comments and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains eating disorders and body image issues if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 30:

"Now run me through the situation quickly."

"Basically, we've told Casey that you wanted to speak to him and he's locked himself in his room" Brax informed him, trying and failing to hide the worry in his tone.

"I don't know why you're bothering talking, you should just break the door down!" Heath shouted from the living room. "Heath! Shut it!" Brax yelled back, truly not in the mood for Heath's snarky comments.

Nate raised his eyebrows at the two brothers; suddenly aware of the tension that was currently within the house. "Look, I don't know what you're both arguing about but I can place a guess and trust me, arguing is the worst thing possible for Casey" Nate said firmly.

Heath sighed and turned around from his position on the sofa. He was done with arguing and focused his attention on the tv.

Brax sighed as he watched Heath but knew the reason why he hadn't just got up and left; Casey. Heath would never admit it but Brax could see it; he was worried about Casey so if staying home meant he could keep an eye on things, then that's what Heath would do.

"Right now that's sorted can we get on with helping Casey?" Brax asked, feeling the anxiety rising in his chest. He just wanted to break the door down and get to Casey.

"Right yes we can" Nate said, taking a deep breath to gather his thoughts and figure out what step he was going to take next. "When was the last time Casey ate?" Nate asked out of interest.

Brax went to answer but felt his throat close up. When did Casey last eat? What was it? How much? It was then that Brax realised he didn't know. He didn't know when Casey had last eaten. What kind of brother did that make him? What was he supposed to tell Nate now? What would Nate think of him now?

He was so caught in everything else. All the stress and worry Casey had caused and ultimately Brax had failed to do anything about it. What kind of brother did that make him? A bad one?

"Brax?" Nate prompted, noticing the eldest Braxton's hesitation. "Yes?" Brax asked, finding that was a word he could get out. "I asked when was the last time Casey last ate" Nate told him.

"I-I, erm" Brax stuttered, aware he was making a fool of himself. Nate soon realised what was going on and knew he'd have to reassure the man. "It's alright if you don't know" Nate said, "I doubt Casey knows either."

Brax nodded, feeling slightly less guilty that Nate didn't blame him. "So how are going to do this?" Brax asked, becoming more inpatient to get Casey out by the minute. "You said that he refuses to come out for you and Heath right?" Nate checked.

"Yeah" Brax replied. "Well what we're going to do, is I'm going to try and talk to him and get him to come out; you or Heath won't have any input alright" Nate told him. Brax nodded, but Nate wasn't so sure if he had taken into account everything Heath had said.

"Brax I mean it, you and Heath can't interrupt me talking to him" Nate told him seriously. "Yeah, I know that" Brax said, making sure Nate could see he was serious. "Right good" Nate said, before turning to face the door and beginning his try at getting Casey to come out.

"Casey mate, it's Nate from the hospital. Do you reckon you could open this door, I need to talk to you and rather not do it with a door between us" Nate said gently, making sure to keep his tone neutral and not contain the concern they were all feeling.

Casey shrunk down against the wall and tried to block out the noise. The outside noise and the inside noise. The noise penetrating his ears from his head and the noise of someone outside his door.

He tried to focus on one or neither of them at all. But he couldn't. Everything was too overwhelming and too loud. Too loud. He couldn't hear himself think but he knew what his thoughts were saying.

 _Pathetic. Worthless. You've causes the arguments. They've fallen out because of you. You'll never be good enough._

Casey could feel the tears prick his eyes and the exhaustion creeping up through his body. He couldn't fight this any more. But he had to. In order to reach his goal, to be like Brax and to be good enough he had to keep going.

He was almost there. He wasn't going to let anyone ruin it. He calmed down enough and focused his breathing enough to hear that it was Nate on the other side of the door.

What was Nate doing here? Casey thought hard. Oh yeah Brax and Heath had wanted him to go to hospital, no wonder Nate had been called. Wait. Hospital! No. No. No.

He could feel once again the panic rise in his chest. He could not go to hospital. They wouldn't take him seriously. They would just laugh and tell him how he needed to man up; man up like Brax and Heath.

He felt sick and couldn't work out whether it was the anxiety of who was on the other side of the door or the fact he didn't know when he'd last eaten. His mind was a mess and everything hurt; he still couldn't stop.

The knocking on the door was only getting louder and Casey knew he had to pull himself together. He took a deep breath and stood up from the floor, leaning against the wall for support.

He caught his reflection in the mirror and grimaced. His legs looked too big, his neck seemed too red and the definition of his wristbone wasn't enough anymore. Why? Why wasn't anything he did working anymore?

"Casey, mate I'll stand here all day if I have to" Nate's voice broke Casey was from his thoughts, reminding him that there was someone, probably two people on the other side of his door.

He could feel the fight drain from him and he also knew that unlike Brax, Nate wouldn't give up. He was used to dealing with people like Casey so he wouldn't be able to escape him this time.

"Nate this isn't working" Brax said. They'd been standing outside Casey's room for the past 20 minutes knocking on the door. "It will Brax, you need to have more patience" Nate told him. Brax sighed but listened to Nate, after all he was the expert here.

"Casey mate, please I just wanna talk. I'm worried about you; we all are" Nate said again, determined to at least get Casey to let him in never mind getting him to come out. He knew that despite what Casey might have thought, he wasn't going to give up.

It quickly dawned on Casey that Nate wasn't going to give up. Standing on the other side of the door wasn't enough to get him to go and Casey good feel the exhaustion rising within him. He just wanted it all to stop. But then he desperately wanted to carry on; he couldn't give up.

The knocking of the door was only getting louder and more consistent that Casey didn't know how much longer he could stand it. He just wanted everything to stop! All the noise! But then that was the only thing keeping him sane.

Nate's persistence was growing to irritate Casey now. He could feel his body begin to shake and knew something was going to break soon. Whether that was his patience, resilience or anger he had no idea.

"Casey please, even if you don't come out, please let me in" Nate pleaded, hoping his words were getting somewhere. "I don't want to beg Casey, but you're pushing me in that direction."

Casey took a deep breath and made his mind up; this was the only way to stop everything going on inside and outside his head. With shaky hands and trembling lips Casey stepped towards his door and unlocked it.

Brax jumped to attention as he heard the door unlock but Nate quickly responded to him. "Let me go in and talk, I'm not family so I might get more out of him" Nate said. "When he opens the door, I'll do the talking, you stay back and stay quiet" Nate instructed him, he knew he sounded blunt but he knew it was necessary if this tactic w as going to work.

Brax nodded and watched on anxiously, his heart beating heavily in his chest.

"Nate is it just you?" Casey asked, his voice wavering. "Yeah Casey, it's just me" Nate reassured him. Casey breathed deeply and slowly opened his door. Nate quickly slipped through and looked up to face Casey.

He couldn't believe his eyes.

Casey looked awful. The kind, cheerful and healthy young man he knew, had now turned into a pale, depressed and seriously distressed and ill young man. It pained him to see. But he knew he couldn't become distracted, his mission was to get Casey to come into hospital with him and he was to use all the strength he had to make that a reality.

"What's going on with you mate?" Nate asked as he sat down on Casey's bed. "Nothing" Casey replied as he stood awkwardly picking at the dry skin on his elbows. "Don't lie to me Casey, it's obvious to everyone around you that you're not coping and struggling" Nate told him.

Casey shrugged and looked at the floor, suddenly finding his carpet extremely interesting. "Casey, I'm not going to lie to you but looking at you now you're seriously ill. From what Brax has told me-"

"Don't listen to Brax!" Casey snapped, surprising Nate with his outburst. "Right just take a deep breath, calm down and let me finish. As I was saying Brax has told me how little you've been eating and how much you've been exercising; that's not healthy Casey."

Casey had taken to blocking Nate out by now, however that meant he was now at the mercy of the voices in his head.

 _He's laughing at you. Why would anyone waste their time on someone who looked like you. Fat. Weak. Pathetic. Ugly. Abnormal._

"Casey what's going on in that head of yours?" Nate asked, noticing Casey's inner turmoil and subsequently breaking his thoughts. "Nothing. There's nothing on so please just leave. It was a mistake you coming here. Please. Please don't waste your time" Casey rambled.

Nate sighed and realised just how deep they were in this. "Casey please, just come back to the hospital with me so we can get you checked over. If there's nothing wrong with you then you can come back home and I'll leave you alone" Nate said, attempting to bargain with Casey.

"No" Casey replied, defiantly. He knew exactly what would happen if he went to the hospital, he would be laughed at and it would ruin his life. "There's nothing wrong with me, I don't care what Brax has told you but it's lies."

Nate sighed, this was quickly becoming a losing battle.

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**


	31. Chapter 31

**Thank you to , S.H, FrankElza, Bonnie Sveen Fan and Zoezoezoe101 for reviewing, I love hearing your feedback and greatly appreciate your support for this story :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of eating disorders if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 31:

"How long they been in there?" Heath asked from his place on the sofa as he watched Brax pace the hallway outside Casey's room. "Too long. Surely they must be done by now" Brax commented, his pacing coming to a stop.

"Maybe Nate is just taking his time explaining things, he's a doctor you know what they're like" Heath said, trying but failing to reassure his older brother. Brax sighed and looked down at his watch.

He wasn't even sure how long Nate had been in there, but it felt like a lifetime. He just wanted Casey to come out and they could get started on his recovery. But was it really that simple?

"Heath, what time is Kyle getting back from his shift?" Brax asked. "Erm, in about 10 minutes I think" Heath replied, slightly caught off guard by the question. "Nate will no doubt still be here, you wanna be the one to explain to him or do you want me to do it?" Brax asked.

"I think I'll be able to manage" Heath said, slightly offended that Brax had assumed he wouldn't be able to explain to Kyle what had happened.

How incapable did Brax think he was?

Nate sighed, this was quickly becoming a losing battle.

How was he supposed to convince Casey to come with him back to the hospital? The boy was so adamant he was staying and Nate didn't want to use force just yet; that wasn't fair.

"I really think you should think about this Casey" Nate told him. "There's nothing for me to think about" Casey replied. He had taken to leaning against the wall which Nate knew was to emphasise how much he didn't care, but Nate also had another suspicion.

"You feeling dizzy Case?" Nate asked, his doctor mode teetering on the edge of being full blown. "What? No" Casey replied, caught slightly off guard by the question. _Stupid. Stupid boy. He knows how pathetic you are now._

Nate watched with a pained heart as Casey shook his head violently, clearly trying to rid it of whatever voices and thoughts were terrorising him. He sighed and thought about what else he could do.

That's the problem. There wasn't much else he could do without an official medical warrant.

"Casey sit down here a minute" Nate said as he took a seat on Casey's bed. Casey eyed him cautiously before moving across the room to sit next to him, keeping some obvious distance.

"Now I want you to listen and not interrupt me, you can ask me stuff when I've finished, okay" Nate instructed and Casey nodded in reply.

"It's clear to all of us that something is going on inside your head. It's obvious. Your physical appearance just confirms any suspicions that I may have had. And this is the thing Casey, it's only ever going to get worse."

Casey sat there silently, doing all he could to block out Nate's voice.

"We can all see just how bad this situation has got and trust me it only gets worse. You'll become so weak and depressed that getting out will become hard. Your thoughts will drive you to the point of insanity. They will dominate you life and make you miserable. That's the last thing any of us want for you."

At this point Casey was just blocking Nate out completely. He couldn't take it. Who did Nate think he was. Casey hasn't asked for Nate's help so why should he accept it; it would just be a waste of time.

"Casey I know there's something going on in that head of yours and the sooner you us help you, you better. It's not healthy to have those kind of thoughts and feelings inside of you" Nate said, realising he was wasting his breath.

Casey wasn't listening. It wasn't working. He'd tried everything he possibly could and could see when he was defeated. Nate sighed and stood up from the bed, knowing he had some explaining to do to the others.

"Look Casey, I can tell that we're going to get nowhere going this path that we seem to be going on but can you promise me something?" Nate asked, not at all surprised when he didn't get an answer. "Can you promise me that if you need to talk to someone, you will."

With that Nate left the room, prepared the question from Brax and Heath to begin.

"Afternoon you two, what you looking so miserable about?" Kyle asked as he walked through the door. Finding Heath on the sofa and Brax leaning against the wall. "Casey" Brax said. "What? Wait? Has something happened? Is he alright?" Kyle asked as he started firing questions at them.

"Slow down a sec and just sit down" Brax told him, bringing his questioning to an end. Kyle did as he was told and sat down next to Heath. "So what's going on?" Brax sighed and turned to face his other younger brother.

"Casey refused to go to the hospital so we've had to call Nate here to talk to him" Brax said. "What! Is Casey alright?" Kyle asked. "What do you think idiot" Heath scoffed, earning himself a glare from Brax. "Shut it Heath, he was only asking."

Kyle brushed off their bickering, he was used to it my now, and turned his attention back to Casey. "So how are things going with Nate?" He asked. "We don't know, Nate's still in there" Brax replied, glancing back in the direction of Casey's bedroom.

As if right on cue, Nate exited Casey's room at th at exact moment.

"How is he? Did you get through to him? Where is he?" Brax pounced on Nate the minute he spotted the doctor. "Brax mate, calm down and sit down, I need to talk to you" Nate told him "I need to talk to all of you" he said, addressing the room.

Brax sighed but sat down on the arm of the sofa, knowing whatever Nate was about to tell them wouldn't be good. "So how did it go?" Heath asked as Nate sat down on the armchair opposite them.

"I'm not going to dress this up or lie to you because I think that's wrong, but Casey is seriously ill. Slowly his mind and inner turmoil are breaking his body down and he needs your help and support now more than ever."

"So how can we help him. What's the next step from here?" Brax questioned. "I can't actually do anything today-" Nate began but was interrupted by Heath. "Wait what do you mean you can't do anything? We called you here to help Casey."

"Heath let him finish" Kyle said, nodding to Nate for him to carry on. "As I was saying I can't do anything today because I don't have an official medical warrant. But I need you lot to do something for me."

"Yeah what?" Brax asked. "I need you to start monitoring what Casey eats and how much exercise he does over the next few days and I want to write it down" Nate told them. "Yeah we can do that" Kyle said.

"I also want you to keep an eye on him after he eats, nothing invasive or intrusive but make sure he's okay." Brax and Kyle both nodded, understanding this was what they could do to help Casey in the best way they could.

Heath however, didn't get it.

"So what was the point of you coming here today? We're no closer to helping Casey and he hasn't even came out his room" Heath ranted. Brax sighed, embarrassed that Heath was questioning Nate when the man was doing all he could.

"Actually there was a positive to me coming today. I've got enough information to write up my formal assessment on Casey, which after a physical examination is done, means we'll be able to get Casey the correct help he needs."

Heath nodded at the answer, feeling slightly stupid for having a go. "Is that it or do any of you have any questions?" Nate asked, looking down at his watch. "No I think that's it for now" Brax said.

"Okay then, I better be off but if you have anymore questions or concerns please don't hesitate to ring me" Nate as he gathered his things and made his way towards the door. Brax got up and followed him out.

"Thanks again for coming" Brax said. "Honestly it's no problem. Casey's going to need his family now more than ever. But Brax can you promise me one thing?" Nate asked. "Yeah" Brax replied.

"Whatever happens, promise me you'll never give up on Casey" Nate said. "Promise."

As soon as Nate left, Casey curled up on his side and lay down. How could he be so stupid? Nate knew something was going on now and he had just made it so damn obvious!

Feeling the tears well up in his eyes, Casey desperately tried to blink them away. He didn't even have the energy to care at the moment, but he knew that tomorrow he'd need to be able to fight whatever Brax had planned for him.

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	32. Chapter 32

**Thank you to , FrankElza and S.H for reviewing, I love hearing your feedback :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of eating disorders please don't feel like you have to read if you may be affected**

Chapter 32:

Casey lay awake, silently staring up at the ceiling. The only sound dominating the room was the heavy breathing of his body; fighting to stay alive as Casey continuously pressed the self destruct button. He hadn't been able to sleep since the day before, the conversations echoing around his head.

Casey could feel his time running out. What would happen next he had no idea and he knew he didn't want to find out, but something in his gut instinct told him he would soon. However his head told him differently, and that's what he liked to believe.

Rolling over, be turned to look at the clock and wasn't surprised when it read 3:00am. It felt like 3:00am. The house was silent, outside was silent and you could hear the faint sound of the waves as they rolled into shore.

This was the kind of peace Casey liked; he wished the rest of his life could be like this. Nothing bothered him at this time, nothing angered him or upset him. No one was around to get on his nerves and his thoughts were silent.

What more could he ask for? Nothing. But he knew it wouldn't last. And he knew he needed to get some sleep.

However sleeping was so hard for him these days. He'd feel exhausted and weak but then as soon as his head hit the pillow he was awake; wide awake for most of the night. It's like his mind never stopped, his body may be testing however his brain was always on the go.

He sighed and rolled back over, hoping a change in position would at least get him comfortable enough to sleep, may be then he might be able to fall asleep. Closing his eyes, Casey hoped that his mind would just stay at rest, only for a couple of hours; enough for him to get some sleep.

Brax sighed as he watched the sun roll through cracks in the curtains, streaming it's rays across the room. He glanced to Ricky get to him and found that she was still alseep; still at peace in her dreams.

There was nothing peaceful about Brax's dreams however.

His mind filled with thoughts and worry about Casey. They'd reached breaking point and Brax knew it. Casey was so close to hitting rock bottom, in fact Brax wouldn't be surprised if he'd already hit it and was going further.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair. It was obvious he wasn't going back to sleep, he had too much to think about, but then there was no desire to get up early. Getting up would also cause his urge to go and check on Casey to intensify, and as much as he wanted to if his brother was awake, Brax knew he wouldn't appreciate it.

He wanted to go back to sleep but couldn't pull himself away from his worry about Casey. Settling on his back, Brax took to staring up at the ceiling to pass the time, knowing he wouldn't be going back to sleep but not wanting to wake anyone else up.

In the room next to Brax, Kyle too couldn't find a comfortable position. He kept tossing and turning, trying to push the the thought of Casey from his mind. But he couldn't. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't.

Kyle felt guilty for some reason, he couldn't pinpoint why but then also couldn't push the feeling from him. It was like a dull ache. He guessed it was because he hadn't been there for Casey as much as he thought he could have.

Fair enough, he might not have known Casey that long, but that didn't stop him from caring. Casey was the youngest of all of them, they all looked out for him. It was an unspoken agreement.

He desperately wanted to help, but he felt he didn't know enough about the situation. None of them did, they were like fish out of water when it came to helping Casey. They all wanted to help, but were lost in how to do so.

It frustrated him.

It seemed the trend of the brothers not being able to sleep had spread to next door, where Heath too lay awake. With an uneasy feeling in his stomach and a dreaded feeling he kept pushing down; he was at a loss.

He so wanted Casey to get better but for some reason he couldn't understand what was wrong. Casey didn't even understand what was wrong. He glanced over at Bianca sleeping softly next him; she seemed to understand what was going on.

She didn't get angry.

She didn't get annoyed.

She didn't threaten violence.

Casey wasn't even her younger brother! What kind of brother did that make him? He couldn't even see when something was wrong and instead of trying to understand he just kicked off. What good was that going to do?

Heath wanted to change, knew he had to, but he couldn't find the nature inside him to do. Brax was always good at this stuff. Brax could sympathise and empathise, Brax could relate and understand, Brax could provide comfort and warmth.

So what could he do?

It's a question he kept spinning round his head, and recent events had made him realise he had to make an effort to help. It would almost certainly be no use, but hey, if he didn't try he'd never know.

Rolling to cuddle back up to Bianca, Heath took a deep breath. Casey was his little brother so he had to be the older brother and look after him; whatever it took.

Brax could hear a ringing noise in his ear but wasn't sure where it was coming from. He sighed and rolled over, cracking his eyes open told him that he had managed to fall asleep again and that it was now 8am.

Reaching over, he shut the thing that was making all the noise and sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes. It was then he realised it was 8am and Casey could have already gotten up and left the house.

Brax swung his legs over the edge of the bed and quickly got up. He made his way out into the hall and through to the kitchen and living room. Studying, the room he came to conclusion no one had been in, meaning either Casey had got up and already left or was still in his room.

Brax hoped it was the latter.

As much as he wanted to go back and check Casey's room, he knew that would do more harm than good. Instead, he turned the lights on and set about making some breakfast for everyone, bracing himself for the upcoming argument that would definitely take place.

Casey could hear someone moving around so knew he had no chance of getting out the house unseen now. However he didn't have the energy to do anything else. He'd eventually managed to fall asleep around 4, which meant looking at his clock told him he'd had about 4 hours sleep.

His head was pounding and be couldn't think straight; like everything had been mashed together and all his thoughts were jumbled. Sighing, Casey knew he wanted to get up but also knew he didn't have the strength to have a confrontation with Brax.

That's all their relationship had turned into nowadays; arguments.

Casey decided to lay in bed a bit longer, fair enough he wasn't exercising, but at least he wasn't eating. That couldn't do any harm right?

"So what time is he planning on getting up then?" Heath asked, looking at the clock as it told him it was 10am now. Brax sighed ans finished cleaning up the kitchen, something he'd been occupying himself with.

"Are you planning to tell him what we discussed last night?" Ricky asked as she stood up from the sofa and joined Brax in the kitchen. "What did you two discuss last night?" Kyle asked, emerging from his room and joining the conversation. Brax sighed, he hadn't planned to tell Heath and Kyle like this, however Ricky had made the situation impossible the escape from.

"Well you know how Casey has ownership of the gym, well myself and Ricky were thinking maybe we should pass the ownership on to Kyle; just until Casey has recovered" Brax told them, unsure as to what their reactions would be.

"Wait why would you do that?" Heath asked. "Because Casey's in no fit state to look after himself, never mind own a gym and look after its customers" Ricky reasoned. "So you're going to pass it on to me?" Kyle questioned.

"Yeah. Is that a problem?" Brax asked. "No. Well. It's just Casey isn't going to be happy about it" Kyle replied. "And why not Heath take over." Brax sighed, "you currently work at the gym so it's only right that you take over, and it won't be permanent" he explained.

Kyle just nodded and hoped that they weren't making a massive mistake.

"That alright with you Heath?" Ricky asked, noticing the man had been quite quiet since he'd found out what they were planning. "Yeah, yeah, just not sure how Casey's gonna take it."

In all honesty Heath once again didn't know what to think, he knew it was for the best, but somehow he felt like he wasn't helping; Brax and Ricky came up with the idea and Kyle was going to be the one taking over.

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard movement from the hallway and turned to see Casey walking into the living room. "Make it obvious you're talking about me why don't you" Casey grumbled.

The four of them stood in silence, not knowing what to say. "Morning Case, you want some cereal or toast or something?" Brax asked, knowing exactly what the answer would be. "No, no, I'm not hungry" Casey replied, ignoring the dizziness that was clouding over him.

"Why don't I make you a bowl of cereal, something light but at least it's something" Ricky suggested. "I said no!" Casey replied firmly. "Why you all standing here anyways?" Casey staying in the living room, away from his family in the kitchen.

"We needed to tell you something" Heath said, attempting to take the lead. "What is it?" Casey mumbled, evidently exhausted.

Everyone was silent, even Brax, until Heath decided to be the bad guy and take the lead. "You're no longer going to the owner and manager of the gym" Heath told him. "Kyle is."

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	33. Chapter 33

**So my exams have finished and now I'm back, thank you to Frank Ekza, , Beth and Bonnie Sveen Fan for reviewing on the last chapter, I hope I haven't lost your interest while I've been on a break :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of eating disorders and body image as well as some scenes of vomiting, if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 33:

"What?" Casey growled, this couldn't be happening. "You're in no fit state to look after yourself never mind a gym" Heath said, shocking the others as to how serious and firm he was being.

"Yes I am!" Casey yelled, outraged at what Heath, no his family, was suggesting. "Well eat something then" Heath challenged him, his pent up emotions finally coming to the surface.

Casey's breath stuttered through his anger as he tried to keep control over his emotions. Heath never challenged him nor did he ever get usually get involved. Why was he getting involved this time?

Heath maintained his eye contact with Casey, knowing breaking it would cause them both to lose their tempers. He observed closely Casey's trembling hands and knew that sooner or later his younger brother would snap.

That's what worried him deeply.

That's what worried them all.

"You're still not taking the gym away from me" Casey said defiantly, breaking Heath from his thoughts. "Well you're not working there anymore so I don't see why it's your problem" Heath replied, standing his ground.

Casey's words were lost in his throat. He couldn't reply to that. What was he supposed to say back? His mind was struggling to process the current opposition he was facing. Heath was different to Brax.

"I can still own and work at the gym!" Casey shouted, not liking the fact he felt he was begging. "No you can't" Heath replied, keeping his voice firm. "We've all agreed that Kyle will take over for the time being, just until you've recovered."

"I didn't agree" Casey said arrogantly. "You weren't in the conversation" Heath replied bluntly. Casey was stunned by this; he couldn't work out what had gotten into Heath. It's like him and Brax had swapped roles.

"You're still not taking the gym from me" Casey argued. Heath sighed, he knew how this worked; they would just go round and round in circles with Casey using the same argument each time.

"Yes we are and there's nothing you can do. That's final" Heath said authoritatively, stopping Casey's words from tumbling out his mouth. Casey couldn't believe this was Heath talking, but couldn't form a reply.

Heath had shocked himself by how strict he'd been with Casey. He never expected himself to be able to do it, but he did and deep down he was quite proud. He'd finally managed to prove himself.

But this wasn't about him.

This was abour his younger brother who needed his help.

Brax and Ricky had been cautiously watching, but standing back and letting Heath say his piece. They both understood that Heath had to take charge here, prove to himself and Casey that he could be the big brother they could see he was.

Heath had to take charge to show Casey they would never back down.

To prove that they would never give up on him.

"Look Case, why don't you get yourself a bowl of cereal yeah. Nothing too heavy but something good for you" Brax suggested, trying to reason with Casey when he could see his brother getting more and more agitated by Heath.

"Good for me" Casey scoffed under his breath. "What was that?" Heath asked, not the only one picking up on Casey's muttering. "Got something to say?" Heath asked, intrigued by his brother's cheek.

"Heath, leave it" Ricky said, knowing how quickly things could turn sour when Heath starts questioning someone. "Look Case, I'll fix you something to eat yeah and then you can eat what you want of it" Ricky said, hoping she'd be more effective than Brax and Heath.

Unfortunately not.

"What part of I don't want anything to eat do you not understand!" Casey growled, his fists clenching with what little energy he had left. His heart beating rapidly in his chest, forehead sweating and legs trembling with the effort being angry took.

"Woah, don't get angry at Ricky she's just trying to help" Brax said firmly, however not missing the way his brother's legs were trembling. "I don't need her help. I don't need any of your help!" Casey shouted.

With that he felt the adrenaline rush through his body, fuelling his exit from the living room to his bedroom. Slamming the door, Casey dropped down on his bed, clutching his head between his hands; trying to stop the voices inside his head.

 _Weak. Pathetic. Fat. Abnormal. Fat thighs. Red neck._

Casey's heart was beating so fast, he felt as though he was having a heart attack. Was he having a heart attack? He needed to get out, get out of the room, get out of the house, get away from his family.

How? How? HOW?

Heaving himself up from his bed, Casey looked around his room, planning his escape route. Carefully avoiding the mirror, he glanced towards the window. The window. The window. He could get out of there. He'd done it before and he could do it again.

Taking a deep breath, numbing his thoughts and calming his trembling hands Casey moved towards the window and opened it. The slight breeze in the air hitting his face, providing relief to his clammy face.

With one last burst of effort, Casey climbed out the window.

"That boy needs help now!" Ricky exclaimed as soon as Casey was in his room. "Yeah we spoke to Nate yesterday, he explained what steps we need to take next" Brax said, trying to push away that fact that Ricky was right.

"No Brax, I mean professional help otherwise he's going to kill himself" Ricky said, not caring his blunt she sounded. "Calm down a bit yeah" Heath said butting in, her last comment striking a nerve within him.

"Look both of you just calm down" Brax said, once again feeling the need to be the peacekeeper. "Nate knows what he's doing, he also knows that Casey is struggling so he will be keeping an eye out and helping us."

Heath and Ricky both sighed while glaring at each other.

Brax sighed, just when he thought one problem was solved another one arose.

Casey breathed a sigh of relief as he made it out that window and his feet touched the ground. Gently pushing his window back so it was on latch, Casey made sure to check no one was watching him.

When the coast was clear, he took a deep breath and began running.

Running was his escape. It was a release. Nothing else mattered when he ran. He was free. His thoughts were lost. His mind was set free.

Except that's what it was usually like.

Instead now he was struggling. Casey was struggling. His legs were trembling and couldn't hold him you much longer. He felt dizzy, light headed, unaware of his surroundings. His heart beating so hard it was about to burst out of his chest. His stomach churning, running on empty.

Running on empty. The biggest mistake he could have made.

Stumbling along the beach, Casey could feel each limb slowly giving up. But that wasn't what was bothering him. No. It was the uneasy feeling in his stomach. His throat was dry and stomach empty, running on nothing.

It was soon catching up with him.

He could feel it rising up his throat. The gagging sensation kicking in. Adrenaline rushing through him, Casey diving towards the nearest bush just in time.

However someone was watching from afar and realised things had got out of hand.

 **Thank you for reading, not particularly happy with this chapter but I hope you enjoyed. Please review and let me know what you think and let me see whether there's still interest for this story :)**

 **See you next chapter :)**


	34. Chapter 34

**Thank you to FrankElza, Beth, S.H and Bonnie Sveen Fan for reviewing, I'm so glad I still have your interest in this story and I hope you enjoy what's to come :)**

 **TRIGGER: this chapter contains mentions of eating disorders, body image and vomiting, if you feel you may be affected please don't feel like you have to read**

Chapter 34:

Nate smiled as he took a sip of his coffee. Perfect. He exited the shop and walked out into the sunny but slightly breezy day. The hospital was having one of it's more quiet days, a rarity in the 21st century yes but also something he took advantage of by being able to have a lunch break.

Strolling along the path, Nate sat down on a bench that overlooked the beautiful sea. It was perfect. The sun hit the ocean at the perfect angle, light reflecting and bouncing back up to the sky.

It was truly magnificent.

As he took a sip of his coffee, Nate admired the beach in all its glory. The golden, soft, silk sand that ran between your fingers effortlessly. It was truly glorious to sit on and just looking at it reminded Nate of how he needed to get down on the beach more.

A lot more.

As Nate took another sip from his coffee something caught his eye on the edge of the beach. A figure. A figure he was sure he recognised but couldn't quite put a name to it. But they looked so familiar.

Nate finished and coffee and had a proper look at the figure he could see. Standing up from the bench, he blocked the sun with his hand and that's when his concern grew. The figure looked to be leaning in a bush, possibly hurt, possibly sick. Maybe they were throwing up?

Casey clutched on to the nearest branch for dear life, hoping it would be enough to at least keep his upright. People crowding around him and asking questions was the last thing he needed.

As his throat burned and nostrils flared, he was trying to work out what he was throwing up. He'd barely eaten over the last few days; his stomach was empty, there was nothing in it to be thrown up.

So why was he throwing up?

Taking a breather and gulping down as much air as he could, Casey tried to take in his surroundings and figure out where he was. Looking at his watch Casey saw he'd been gone for 20 minutes and knew he'd have to get back soon before someone noticed he was gone.

It was only as Nate got closer to the beach that he realised who the figure was. It was Casey. What the hell was he doing outside? Nate rushed down the paths towards the beach, his concern and worry for Casey building and questions firing around his head.

Why was Casey outside?

Did Brax know where he was?

Had something happened at home? An argument?

Why was he throwing up? Sickness? Exhaustion?

By the time Nate has finished going through the options in his head, he has reached the path where Casey was. Knowing Casey's delicate frame of mind, Nate decided to approach carefully as he didn't want to make the situation worse.

As Nate got closer, he could see Casey's shaky legs trembling under the weight of his body, sweat w as clinging to his body and his arms thin; too thin to contain any of the muscle Casey once had.

"Casey mate, you alright?" Nate called gently, careful not to startle the young man.

Casey froze as he heard Nate's voice behind him, all air in his body becoming trapped in his throat. Nate was here. Nate was here! Everything was ruined now and his plan to secretly get back before anyone found out had been destroyed.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Casey replied, shocking himself by how hoarse his voice sounded. "You don't sound it" Nate said calmly, knowing that confronting and questioning Casey would only end in tears and screaming.

That's where the Braxton's were going wrong.

"Casey's being very quiet. Do you reckon he's alright?" Brax asked, his concern for his brother don't building as time went on. Roughly 30 minutes ago Casey had stormed off into room and since then they hadn't heard anything.

Not one peep.

"He's probably just lying down and thinking things through, whatever he has to think through anyways I don't know" Heath said, once again trying not to dig too deep despite what his instincts were telling him.

"But he's never normally this quiet, we can always hear him messing around with something" Brax said, allowing his thoughts to take over. He hadn't been able to sleep recently and that combined with everything Casey was going through, just seemed to be too much stress for him.

"Look if you're so worried, why don't you knock on the door and check on him" Ricky suggested, knowing that Brax doing something about his concerns would be the best option for all of them.

"Yeah, she's right because then we can deal with whatever the outcome is" Heath said, backing up Ricky. He too could see the stress his older brother was under and in some ways felt guilty; he should have helped to ease that pressure but instead he just ignored it.

Brax sighed as he listened to what Heath and Ricky were saying. They had a point. If he calmed his worries and checked on Casey, he could then deal with the outcome. He hated that he was so stressed but something told him that something was off.

Something wasn't right.

Brax pushed himself off from the kitchen counter he was leaning on and made his way through the hall to Casey's bedroom. He took a deep breath before reaching out and knocking on the door; he wasn't going to barge in that never worked.

"Casey, mate. You alright in there?" Brax asked as he gently knocked on the door. He could feel the eyes of Heath and Ricky watching his every move, however he focused all his attention on Casey.

Brax listened for a response, anything, but he got nothing. Nothing. "Case, open this door mate" Brax instructed, hoping sounding more instructive than questioning would convince Casey to open up.

"What you doing out here then?" Nate asked, sitting down on a nearby bench so not to crowd Casey. "Nothing" Casey replied, still with his back to Nate hoping that if he continued to ignore Nate he would hopefully leave. However, Casey forgot that Nate was a doctor; he dealt with this everyday.

"Does Brax know you're out?" Nate asked, deciding to try a different tactic to get Casey to go home. He was met with silence which was enough to answer his question. "I think you should go home, Brax will no doubt be worried about you."

Casey breathed through the nausea and dizziness as an alternate to listening to Nate. What did he know anyways? Go home. Casey couldn't do that and he knew Nate would tell Brax anyways.

Why would he go home and make it worse?

"Look Casey I'm going to cut to the chase, I know that you've been throwing up in that bush and looking at you from behind you're ill; seriously ill" Nate explained. "Now I think it would be in your best interests to get home, became your family will be worried about you."

Casey couldn't come up with a response to Nate, he just shook his head. Although what he was shaking his head at, Casey had no idea. His head was so loud; he couldn't concentrate on what Nate was saying to him.

Watching Casey, Nate could almost feel the conflict going on in his head. He decided enough was enough, he wasn't getting through to Casey and the situation they were in wasn't good for anyone.

"Casey why don't you come and sit down next to me?" Nate suggested, although he wasn't expecting a reply. Nate sighed and pulled out his phone, knowing what he had to do.

"Hey Brax, yeah, you're gonna want to get down here."

 **Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think :)**

 **And to all of my readers that celebrate it, I hope you all had a merry Christmas and a happy New Year**

 **See you next chapter :)**


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